| NET Bible | New International Version |
| 1Then Job answered: | 1Then Job replied: |
| 2"Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you offer me. | 2"Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me. |
| 3Bear with me and I will speak, and after I have spoken you may mock. | 3Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on. |
| 4Is my complaint against a man? If so, why should I not be impatient? | 4"Is my complaint directed to a human being? Why should I not be impatient? |
| 5Look at me and be appalled; put your hands over your mouths. | 5Look at me and be appalled; clap your hand over your mouth. |
| 6For, when I think about this, I am terrified and my body feels a shudder. | 6When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body. |
| 7"Why do the wicked go on living, grow old, even increase in power? | 7Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? |
| 8Their children are firmly established in their presence, their offspring before their eyes. | 8They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes. |
| 9Their houses are safe and without fear; and no rod of punishment from God is upon them. | 9Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not on them. |
| 10Their bulls breed without fail; their cows calve and do not miscarry. | 10Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry. |
| 11They allow their children to run like a flock; their little ones dance about. | 11They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about. |
| 12They sing to the accompaniment of tambourine and harp, and make merry to the sound of the flute. | 12They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre; they make merry to the sound of the pipe. |
| 13They live out their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. | 13They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. |
| 14So they say to God, 'Turn away from us! We do not want to know your ways. | 14Yet they say to God, 'Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways. |
| 15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain if we were to pray to him?' | 15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?' |
| 16But their prosperity is not their own doing. The counsel of the wicked is far from me! | 16But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked. |
| 17"How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished? How often does their misfortune come upon them? How often does God apportion pain to them in his anger? | 17"Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in his anger? |
| 18How often are they like straw before the wind, and like chaff swept away by a whirlwind? | 18How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale? |
| 19You may say, 'God stores up a man's punishment for his children!' Instead let him repay the man himself so that he may know it! | 19It is said, 'God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.' Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it! |
| 20Let his own eyes see his destruction; let him drink of the anger of the Almighty. | 20Let their own eyes see their destruction; let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty. |
| 21For what is his interest in his home after his death, when the number of his months has been broken off? | 21For what do they care about the families they leave behind when their allotted months come to an end? |
| 22Can anyone teach God knowledge, since he judges those that are on high? | 22"Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest? |
| 23"One man dies in his full vigor, completely secure and prosperous, | 23One person dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease, |
| 24his body well nourished, and the marrow of his bones moist. | 24well nourished in body, bones rich with marrow. |
| 25And another man dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted anything good. | 25Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. |
| 26Together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover over them both. | 26Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both. |
| 27"Yes, I know what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me. | 27"I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me. |
| 28For you say, 'Where now is the nobleman's house, and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?' | 28You say, 'Where now is the house of the great, the tents where the wicked lived?' |
| 29Have you never questioned those who travel the roads? Do you not recognize their accounts-- | 29Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts-- |
| 30that the evil man is spared from the day of his misfortune, that he is delivered from the day of God's wrath? | 30that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity, that they are delivered from the day of wrath? |
| 31No one denounces his conduct to his face; no one repays him for what he has done. | 31Who denounces their conduct to their face? Who repays them for what they have done? |
| 32And when he is carried to the tombs, and watch is kept over the funeral mound, | 32They are carried to the grave, and watch is kept over their tombs. |
| 33The clods of the torrent valley are sweet to him; behind him everybody follows in procession, and before him goes a countless throng. | 33The soil in the valley is sweet to them; everyone follows after them, and a countless throng goes before them. |
| 34So how can you console me with your futile words? Nothing is left of your answers but deception!" | 34"So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!" |
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