GOD'S WORD Translation GW
New King James Version NKJV
1 Then Job replied [to his friends],
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Then Job answered and said:
2 "Listen carefully to my words, and let that be the comfort you offer me.
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"Listen carefully to my speech, And let this be your consolation.
3 Bear with me while I speak. Then after I've spoken, you may go on mocking.
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Bear with me that I may speak, And after I have spoken, keep mocking.
4 Am I complaining about a person? Why shouldn't I be impatient?
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"As for me, is my complaint against man? And if it were, why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me, and be shocked, and put [your] hand over [your] mouth.
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Look at me and be astonished; Put your hand over your mouth.
6 When I remember it, I'm terrified, and shuddering seizes my body.
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Even when I remember I am terrified, And trembling takes hold of my flesh.
7 "Why do the wicked go on living, grow old, and even become more powerful?
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Why do the wicked live and become old, Yes, become mighty in power?
8 They see their children firmly established with them, and they get to see their descendants.
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Their descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their homes are free from fear, and God doesn't use his rod on them.
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Their houses are safe from fear, Neither is the rod of God upon them.
10 Their bulls are fertile when they breed. Their cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
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Their bull breeds without failure; Their cow calves without miscarriage.
11 They send their little children out [to play] like a flock of lambs, and their children dance around.
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They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children dance.
12 They sing with the tambourine and lyre, and they are happy with the music of the flute.
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They sing to the tambourine and harp, And rejoice to the sound of the flute.
13 They spend their days in happiness, and they go peacefully to the grave.
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They spend their days in wealth, And in a moment go down to the grave.
14 But they say to God, 'Leave us alone. We don't want to know your ways.
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Yet they say to God, 'Depart from us, For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? What do we gain if we pray to him?'
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Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?'
16 Anyhow, isn't their happiness in their own power? (The plan of the wicked is foreign to my way of thinking.)
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Indeed their prosperity is not in their hand; The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 "How often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does disaster happen to them? How often does an angry God give them pain?
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"How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does their destruction come upon them, The sorrows God distributes in His anger?
18 How often are they like straw in the wind or like husks that the storm sweeps away?
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They are like straw before the wind, And like chaff that a storm carries away.
19 "[You say,] 'God saves a person's punishment for his children.' God should pay back that person so that he would know that it is a punishment.
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They say, 'God lays up one's iniquity for his children'; Let Him recompense him, that he may know it.
20 His eyes should see his own ruin. He should drink from the wrath of the Almighty.
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Let his eyes see his destruction, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 How can he be interested in his family after he's gone, when the number of his months is cut short?
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For what does he care about his household after him, When the number of his months is cut in half?
22 "Can anyone teach God knowledge? Can anyone judge the Most High?
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"Can anyone teach God knowledge, Since He judges those on high?
23 One person dies in his prime and feels altogether happy and contented.
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One dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and secure;
24 His stomach is full of milk, and his bones are strong and healthy.
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His pails are full of milk, And the marrow of his bones is moist.
25 Another person, never having tasted happiness, dies with a bitter soul.
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Another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, Never having eaten with pleasure.
26 Together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them.
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They lie down alike in the dust, And worms cover them.
27 "You see, I know your thoughts and the schemes you plot against me
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"Look, I know your thoughts, And the schemes with which you would wrong me.
28 because you ask, 'Where is the house of the influential person? Where is the tent where wicked people live?'
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For you say, 'Where is the house of the prince? And where is the tent, The dwelling place of the wicked?'
29 Haven't you asked travelers? But you didn't pay attention to their directions.
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Have you not asked those who travel the road? And do you not know their signs?
30 On the day of disaster the wicked person is spared. On the day of [God's] anger he is rescued.
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For the wicked are reserved for the day of doom; They shall be brought out on the day of wrath.
31 Who will tell him to his face how he lived? Who will pay him back for what he did?
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Who condemns his way to his face? And who repays him for what he has done?
32 He is carried to the cemetery, and his grave is guarded.
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Yet he shall be brought to the grave, And a vigil kept over the tomb.
33 The soil in the creekbed is sweet to him. Everyone follows him. Countless others went before him.
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The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him; Everyone shall follow him, As countless have gone before him.
34 How can you comfort me with this nonsense when your answers continue to betray me?"
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How then can you comfort me with empty words, Since falsehood remains in your answers?"