| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1In response, Job said: | 1Then Job answered: |
| 2"Listen carefully to my words; let this encourage all of you. | 2Pay close attention to my words; let this be the consolation you offer. |
| 3Bear with me and let me speak! Then, after I've spoken, you'll be free to mock me. | 3Bear with me while I speak; then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking. |
| 4After all, isn't my complaint against a human being? If so, why shouldn't I be impatient? | 4As for me, is my complaint against a man? Then why shouldn't I be impatient? |
| 5Look at me, be appalled, and then shut up! | 5Look at me and shudder; put your hand over your mouth. |
| 6When I think about this, I'm petrified with terror and my body shudders uncontrollably." | 6When I think about it, I am terrified and my body trembles in horror. |
| 7"Why do the wicked live to reach old age and increase in power and wealth, too? | 7Why do the wicked continue to live, growing old and becoming powerful? |
| 8Their children grow up while they're alive, and they live to see their grandchildren. | 8Their children are established while they are still alive, and their descendants, before their eyes. |
| 9Their houses are safe from fear, and God's chastisement never visits them. | 9Their homes are secure and free of fear; no rod from God strikes them. |
| 10Their bull breeds without fail, and their cows calve without miscarriages. | 10Their bulls breed without fail; their cows calve and do not miscarry. |
| 11They release their children to play like sheep; their young ones dance about, | 11They let their little ones run around like lambs; their children skip about, |
| 12singing with tambourines and lyres as they rejoice to the sound of flutes. | 12singing to the tambourine and lyre and rejoicing at the sound of the flute. |
| 13They grow old in prosperity, as they descend peacefully into the afterlife. | 13They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace. |
| 14"They say to God, 'Turn away from us! We have no desire to know your ways. | 14Yet they say to God: "Leave us alone! We don't want to know Your ways. |
| 15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? Where's the profit in talking to him?' | 15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what will we gain by pleading with Him?" |
| 16Behold! Their prosperity isn't in their control! The counsel of the wicked will remain far from me." | 16But their prosperity is not of their own doing. The counsel of the wicked is far from me! |
| 17"How often do the wicked have their lights put out? Does calamity ever fall on them? Will God in his anger ever apportion their destruction? | 17How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come on them? Does He apportion destruction in His anger? |
| 18May they become like a straw, blown away before the wind; like a chaff that's swept off by a storm. | 18Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff a storm sweeps away? |
| 19God stores up their iniquity to repay their children; making them repay so that they may be aware. | 19God reserves a person's punishment for his children. Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it. |
| 20Their own eyes will see their destruction; and they'll drink the wrath of the Almighty. | 20Let his own eyes see his demise; let him drink from the Almighty's wrath! |
| 21What will they care for their household after them, when the number of his months comes to an end?" | 21For what does he care about his family once he is dead, when the number of his months has run out? |
| 22"Can God learn anything? After all, he will judge even the exalted ones. | 22Can anyone teach God knowledge, since He judges the exalted ones? |
| 23Such persons will die in their full vigor, completely prosperous and secure. | 23One person dies in excellent health, completely secure and at ease. |
| 24His buckets are filled with milk, his bone marrow is healthy. | 24His body is well fed, and his bones are full of marrow. |
| 25Others die with a bitter soul, never having tasted the good life. | 25Yet another person dies with a bitter soul, having never tasted prosperity. |
| 26They both lie down in the dust; and worms cover them." | 26But they both lie in the dust, and worms cover them. |
| 27"Look! I know your thoughts, your plans are going to harm me. | 27I know your thoughts very well, the schemes you would wrong me with. |
| 28You ask, 'Where is the noble person's house?' and 'Where are the tents where the wicked live?' | 28For you say, "Where now is the nobleman's house?" and "Where are the tents the wicked lived in?" |
| 29Haven't you asked travelers on the highway? Don't you accept their word | 29Have you never consulted those who travel the roads? Don't you accept their reports? |
| 30that the wicked person is spared from times of calamity, that he is rescued on the day of wrath? | 30Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of disaster, rescued from the day of wrath. |
| 31Who will expose his conduct to his face? Who will repay 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 away to the cemetery and guardians are placed to watch his tomb? | 32He is carried to the grave, and someone keeps watch over his tomb. |
| 33The runoff from the streams will seem sweet to him; everyone will follow after him; countless crows march ahead of him. | 33The dirt on his grave is sweet to him. Everyone follows behind him, and those who go before him are without number. |
| 34How then, can you console me so worthlessly? What is left of your answers is treachery." | 34So how can you offer me such futile comfort? Your answers are deceptive. |
|
