| New International Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Then Job replied: | 1Then Job answered: |
| 2"Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me. | 2Pay close attention to my words; let this be the consolation you offer. |
| 3Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on. | 3Bear with me while I speak; then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking. |
| 4"Is my complaint directed to a human being? 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; clap your hand over your mouth. | 5Look at me and shudder; put your hand over your mouth. |
| 6When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body. | 6When I think about it, I am terrified and my body trembles in horror. |
| 7Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? | 7Why do the wicked continue to live, growing old and becoming powerful? |
| 8They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes. | 8Their children are established while they are still alive, and their descendants, before their eyes. |
| 9Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not on them. | 9Their homes are secure and free of fear; no rod from God strikes them. |
| 10Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry. | 10Their bulls breed without fail; their cows calve and do not miscarry. |
| 11They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about. | 11They let their little ones run around like lambs; their children skip about, |
| 12They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre; they make merry to the sound of the pipe. | 12singing to the tambourine and lyre and rejoicing at the sound of the flute. |
| 13They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. | 13They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace. |
| 14Yet they say to God, 'Leave us alone! 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? What would we gain by praying to him?' | 15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what will we gain by pleading with Him?" |
| 16But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked. | 16But their prosperity is not of their own doing. The counsel of the wicked is far from me! |
| 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? | 17How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come on them? Does He apportion destruction in His anger? |
| 18How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale? | 18Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff a storm sweeps away? |
| 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! | 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; let them drink the cup 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 about the families they leave behind when their allotted months come 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 anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest? | 22Can anyone teach God knowledge, since He judges the exalted ones? |
| 23One person dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease, | 23One person dies in excellent health, completely secure and at ease. |
| 24well nourished in body, bones rich with marrow. | 24His body is well fed, and his bones are full of marrow. |
| 25Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. | 25Yet another person dies with a bitter soul, having never tasted prosperity. |
| 26Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both. | 26But they both lie in the dust, and worms cover them. |
| 27"I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me. | 27I know your thoughts very well, the schemes you would wrong me with. |
| 28You say, 'Where now is the house of the great, the tents where the wicked lived?' | 28For you say, "Where now is the nobleman's house?" and "Where are the tents the wicked lived in?" |
| 29Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts-- | 29Have you never consulted those who travel the roads? Don't you accept their reports? |
| 30that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity, that they are delivered from the day of wrath? | 30Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of disaster, rescued from the day of wrath. |
| 31Who denounces their conduct to their face? Who repays them for what they have done? | 31Who would denounce his behavior to his face? Who would repay him for what he has done? |
| 32They are carried to the grave, and watch is kept over their tombs. | 32He is carried to the grave, and someone keeps watch over his tomb. |
| 33The soil in the valley is sweet to them; everyone follows after them, and a countless throng goes before them. | 33The dirt on his grave is sweet to him. Everyone follows behind him, and those who go before him are without number. |
| 34"So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!" | 34So how can you offer me such futile comfort? Your answers are deceptive. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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