Parallel Bible results for "job 21"

Job 21

New Revised Standard NRS

1 Then Job answered:

2 "Listen carefully to my words, and let this be your consolation.

3 Bear with me, and I will speak; then after I have spoken, mock on.

4 As for me, is my complaint addressed to mortals? Why should I not be impatient?

5 Look at me, and be appalled, and lay your hand upon your mouth.

6 When I think of it I am dismayed, and shuddering seizes my flesh.

7 Why do the wicked live on, reach old age, and grow mighty in power?

8 Their children are established in their presence, and their offspring before their eyes.

9 Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them.

10 Their bull breeds without fail; their cow calves and never miscarries.

11 They send out their little ones like a flock, and their children dance around.

12 They sing to the tambourine and the lyre, and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.

13 They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.

14 They say to God, "Leave us alone! We do not desire to know your ways.

15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?'

16 Is not their prosperity indeed their own achievement? The plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.

17 "How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does calamity come upon them? How often does God distribute pains in his anger?

18 How often are they like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away?

19 You say, "God stores up their iniquity for their children.' Let it be paid back to them, so that they may know it.

20 Let their own eyes see their destruction, and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

21 For what do they care for their household after them, when the number of their months is cut off?

22 Will any teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those that are on high?

23 One dies in full prosperity, being wholly at ease and secure,

24 his loins full of milk and the marrow of his bones moist.

25 Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of good.

26 They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them.

27 "Oh, I know your thoughts, and your schemes to wrong me.

28 For you say, "Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?'

29 Have you not asked those who travel the roads, and do you not accept their testimony,

30 that the wicked are spared in the day of calamity, and are rescued in the day of wrath?

31 Who declares their way to their face, and who repays them for what they have done?

32 When they are carried to the grave, a watch is kept over their tomb.

33 The clods of the valley are sweet to them; everyone will follow after, and those who went before are innumerable.

34 How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood."

The Message Bible MSG

1 Job replied:

2 "Now listen to me carefully, please listen, at least do me the favor of listening.

3 Put up with me while I have my say - then you can mock me later to your heart's content.

4 "It's not you I'm complaining to - it's God. Is it any wonder I'm getting fed up with his silence?

5 Take a good look at me. Aren't you appalled by what's happened? No! Don't say anything. I can do without your comments.

6 When I look back, I go into shock, my body is racked with spasms.

7 Why do the wicked have it so good, live to a ripe old age and get rich?

8 They get to see their children succeed, get to watch and enjoy their grandchildren.

9 Their homes are peaceful and free from fear; they never experience God's disciplining rod.

10 Their bulls breed with great vigor and their cows calve without fail.

11 They send their children out to play and watch them frolic like spring lambs.

12 They make music with fiddles and flutes, have good times singing and dancing.

13 They have a long life on easy street, and die painlessly in their sleep.

14 They say to God, 'Get lost! We've no interest in you or your ways.

15 Why should we have dealings with God Almighty? What's there in it for us?'

16 But they're wrong, dead wrong - they're not gods. It's beyond me how they can carry on like this!

17 "Still, how often does it happen that the wicked fail, or disaster strikes, or they get their just deserts?

18 How often are they blown away by bad luck? Not very often.

19 You might say, 'God is saving up the punishment for their children.' I say, 'Give it to them right now so they'll know what they've done!'

20 They deserve to experience the effects of their evil, feel the full force of God's wrath firsthand.

21 What do they care what happens to their families after they're safely tucked away in the grave? Fancy Funerals with All the Trimmings

22 "But who are we to tell God how to run his affairs? He's dealing with matters that are way over our heads.

23 Some people die in the prime of life, with everything going for them -

24 fat and sassy.

25 Others die bitter and bereft, never getting a taste of happiness.

26 They're laid out side by side in the cemetery, where the worms can't tell one from the other.

27 "I'm not deceived. I know what you're up to, the plans you're cooking up to bring me down.

28 Naively you claim that the castles of tyrants fall to pieces, that the achievements of the wicked collapse.

29 Have you ever asked world travelers how they see it? Have you not listened to their stories

30 Of evil men and women who got off scot-free, who never had to pay for their wickedness?

31 Did anyone ever confront them with their crimes? Did they ever have to face the music?

32 Not likely - they're given fancy funerals with all the trimmings,

33 Gently lowered into expensive graves, with everyone telling lies about how wonderful they were.

34 "So how do you expect me to get any comfort from your nonsense? Your so-called comfort is a tissue of lies."