2
|
"Listen closely to what I am saying. That's one consolation you can give me. |
3
|
Bear with me, and let me speak. After I have spoken, you may resume mocking me. |
4
|
"My complaint is with God, not with people. I have good reason to be so impatient. |
5
|
Look at me and be stunned. Put your hand over your mouth in shock. |
6
|
When I think about what I am saying, I shudder. My body trembles. |
7
|
"Why do the wicked prosper, growing old and powerful? |
8
|
They live to see their children grow up and settle down, and they enjoy their grandchildren. |
9
|
Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them. |
10
|
Their bulls never fail to breed. Their cows bear calves and never miscarry. |
11
|
They let their children frisk about like lambs. Their little ones skip and dance. |
12
|
They sing with tambourine and harp. They celebrate to the sound of the flute. |
13
|
They spend their days in prosperity, then go down to the grave in peace. |
14
|
And yet they say to God, 'Go away. We want no part of you and your ways. |
15
|
Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us to pray?' |
16
|
(They think their prosperity is of their own doing, but I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.) |
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? |
18
|
Are they driven before the wind like straw? Are they carried away by the storm like chaff? Not at all! |
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. |
20
|
Let them see their destruction with their own eyes. Let them drink deeply of the anger of the Almighty. |
21
|
For they will not care what happens to their family after they are dead. |
22
|
"But who can teach a lesson to God, since he judges even the most powerful? |
23
|
One person dies in prosperity, completely comfortable and secure, |
24
|
the picture of good health, vigorous and fit. |
25
|
Another person dies in bitter poverty, never having tasted the good life. |
26
|
But both are buried in the same dust, both eaten by the same maggots. |
27
|
"Look, I know what you're thinking. I know the schemes you plot against me. |
28
|
You will tell me of rich and wicked people whose houses have vanished because of their sins. |
29
|
But ask those who have been around, and they will tell you the truth. |
30
|
Evil people are spared in times of calamity and are allowed to escape disaster. |
31
|
No one criticizes them openly or pays them back for what they have done. |
32
|
When they are carried to the grave, an honor guard keeps watch at their tomb. |
33
|
A great funeral procession goes to the cemetery. Many pay their respects as the body is laid to rest, and the earth gives sweet repose. |
34
|
"How can your empty clich�s comfort me? All your explanations are lies!" |
Job 21:9 English Language Bible Words basic statistical display
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