Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
1Then Job answered: | 1Then Job spoke again: |
2Pay close attention to my words; let this be the consolation you offer. | 2“Listen closely to what I am saying. That’s one consolation you can give me. |
3Bear with me while I speak; then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking. | 3Bear with me, and let me speak. After I have spoken, you may resume mocking me. |
4As for me, is my complaint against a human being? Then why shouldn't I be impatient? | 4“My complaint is with God, not with people. I have good reason to be so impatient. |
5Look at me and shudder; put your hand over your mouth. | 5Look at me and be stunned. Put your hand over your mouth in shock. |
6When I think about it, I am terrified and my body trembles in horror. | 6When I think about what I am saying, I shudder. My body trembles. |
7Why do the wicked continue to live, growing old and becoming powerful? | 7“Why do the wicked prosper, growing old and powerful? |
8Their children are established while they are still alive, and their descendants, before their eyes. | 8They live to see their children grow up and settle down, and they enjoy their grandchildren. |
9Their homes are secure and free of fear; no rod from God strikes them. | 9Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them. |
10Their bulls breed without fail; their cows calve and do not miscarry. | 10Their bulls never fail to breed. Their cows bear calves and never miscarry. |
11They let their little ones run around like lambs; their children skip about, | 11They let their children frisk about like lambs. Their little ones skip and dance. |
12singing to the tambourine and lyre and rejoicing at the sound of the flute. | 12They sing with tambourine and harp. They celebrate to the sound of the flute. |
13They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace. | 13They spend their days in prosperity, then go down to the grave in peace. |
14Yet they say to God, "Leave us alone! We don't want to know your ways. | 14And yet they say to God, ‘Go away. We want no part of you and your ways. |
15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him, and what will we gain by pleading with him?" | 15Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us to pray?’ |
16But their prosperity is not of their own doing. The counsel of the wicked is far from me! | 16(They think their prosperity is of their own doing, but I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.) |
17How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come on them? Does he apportion destruction in his anger? | 17“Yet the light of the wicked never seems to be extinguished. Do they ever have trouble? Does God distribute sorrows to them in anger? |
18Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff a storm sweeps away? | 18Are they driven before the wind like straw? Are they carried away by the storm like chaff? Not at all! |
19God reserves a person's punishment for his children. Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it. | 19“‘Well,’ you say, ‘at least God will punish their children!’ But I say he should punish the ones who sin, so that they understand his judgment. |
20Let his own eyes see his demise; let him drink from the Almighty's wrath! | 20Let them see their destruction with their own eyes. Let them drink deeply of the anger of the Almighty. |
21For what does he care about his family once he is dead, when the number of his months has run out? | 21For they will not care what happens to their family after they are dead. |
22Can anyone teach God knowledge, since he judges the exalted ones? | 22“But who can teach a lesson to God, since he judges even the most powerful? |
23One person dies in excellent health, completely secure and at ease. | 23One person dies in prosperity, completely comfortable and secure, |
24His body is well fed, and his bones are full of marrow. | 24the picture of good health, vigorous and fit. |
25Yet another person dies with a bitter soul, having never tasted prosperity. | 25Another person dies in bitter poverty, never having tasted the good life. |
26But they both lie in the dust, and worms cover them. | 26But both are buried in the same dust, both eaten by the same maggots. |
27I know your thoughts very well, the schemes by which you would wrong me. | 27“Look, I know what you’re thinking. I know the schemes you plot against me. |
28For you say, "Where now is the nobleman's house?" and "Where are the tents the wicked lived in?" | 28You will tell me of rich and wicked people whose houses have vanished because of their sins. |
29Have you never consulted those who travel the roads? Don't you accept their reports? | 29But ask those who have been around, and they will tell you the truth. |
30Indeed, the evil person is spared from the day of disaster, rescued from the day of wrath. | 30Evil people are spared in times of calamity and are allowed to escape disaster. |
31Who would denounce his behavior to his face? Who would repay him for what he has done? | 31No one criticizes them openly or pays them back for what they have done. |
32He is carried to the grave, and someone keeps watch over his tomb. | 32When they are carried to the grave, an honor guard keeps watch at their tomb. |
33The dirt on his grave is sweet to him. Everyone follows behind him, and those who go before him are without number. | 33A great funeral procession goes to the cemetery. Many pay their respects as the body is laid to rest, and the earth gives sweet repose. |
34So how can you offer me such futile comfort? Your answers are deceptive. | 34“How can your empty clichés comfort me? All your explanations are lies!” |
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
|