| English Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Then Job answered and said: | 1Then Job answered: |
| 2“Keep listening to my words, and let this be your comfort. | 2Pay close attention to my words; let this be the consolation you offer. |
| 3Bear with me, and I will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on. | 3Bear with me while I speak; then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking. |
| 4As for me, is my complaint against man? Why should I not be impatient? | 4As for me, is my complaint against a man? Then why shouldn't I be impatient? |
| 5Look at me and be appalled, and lay your hand over your mouth. | 5Look at me and shudder; put your hand over your mouth. |
| 6When I remember, I am dismayed, and shuddering seizes my flesh. | 6When I think about it, I am terrified and my body trembles in horror. |
| 7Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power? | 7Why do the wicked continue to live, growing old and becoming powerful? |
| 8Their offspring are established in their presence, and their descendants before their eyes. | 8Their children are established while they are still alive, and their descendants, before their eyes. |
| 9Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them. | 9Their homes are secure and free of fear; no rod from God strikes them. |
| 10Their bull breeds without fail; their cow calves and does not miscarry. | 10Their bulls breed without fail; their cows calve and do not miscarry. |
| 11They send out their little boys like a flock, and their children dance. | 11They let their little ones run around like lambs; their children skip about, |
| 12They sing to the tambourine and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe. | 12singing to the tambourine and lyre and rejoicing at the sound of the flute. |
| 13They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol. | 13They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace. |
| 14They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways. | 14Yet they say to God: "Leave us alone! We don't want to know Your ways. |
| 15What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’ | 15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what will we gain by pleading with Him?" |
| 16Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked is far from me. | 16But their prosperity is not of their own doing. The counsel of the wicked is far from me! |
| 17“How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity comes upon them? That God distributes pains in his anger? | 17How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come on them? Does He apportion destruction in His anger? |
| 18That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away? | 18Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff a storm sweeps away? |
| 19You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’ Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it. | 19God reserves a person's punishment for his children. Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it. |
| 20Let their own eyes see their destruction, and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty. | 20Let his own eyes see his demise; let him drink from the Almighty's wrath! |
| 21For what do they care for their houses after them, when the number of their months is cut off? | 21For what does he care about his family once he is dead, when the number of his months has run out? |
| 22Will any teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those who are on high? | 22Can anyone teach God knowledge, since He judges the exalted ones? |
| 23One dies in his full vigor, being wholly at ease and secure, | 23One person dies in excellent health, completely secure and at ease. |
| 24his pails full of milk and the marrow of his bones moist. | 24His body is well fed, and his bones are full of marrow. |
| 25Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of prosperity. | 25Yet another person dies with a bitter soul, having never tasted prosperity. |
| 26They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them. | 26But they both lie in the dust, and worms cover them. |
| 27“Behold, I know your thoughts and your schemes to wrong me. | 27I know your thoughts very well, the schemes you would wrong me with. |
| 28For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’ | 28For you say, "Where now is the nobleman's house?" and "Where are the tents the wicked lived in?" |
| 29Have you not asked those who travel the roads, and do you not accept their testimony | 29Have you never consulted those who travel the roads? Don't you accept their reports? |
| 30that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity, that he is rescued in the day of wrath? | 30Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of disaster, rescued from the day of wrath. |
| 31Who declares his way to his face, and who repays him for what he has done? | 31Who would denounce his behavior to his face? Who would repay him for what he has done? |
| 32When he is carried to the grave, watch is kept over his tomb. | 32He is carried to the grave, and someone keeps watch over his tomb. |
| 33The clods of the valley are sweet to him; all mankind follows after him, and those who go before him are innumerable. | 33The dirt on his grave is sweet to him. Everyone follows behind him, and those who go before him are without number. |
| 34How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.” | 34So how can you offer me such futile comfort? Your answers are deceptive. |
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