Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
The Message Bible MSG
1 Then Job answered, and said:
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Job replied:
2 Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance.
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"Now listen to me carefully, please listen, at least do me the favor of listening.
3 Suffer me, and I will speak, and after, if you please, laugh at my words.
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Put up with me while I have my say - then you can mock me later to your heart's content.
4 Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to be troubled?
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"It's not you I'm complaining to - it's God. Is it any wonder I'm getting fed up with his silence?
5 Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your finger on your mouth.
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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 As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
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When I look back, I go into shock, my body is racked with spasms.
7 Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches?
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Why do the wicked have it so good, live to a ripe old age and get rich?
8 Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen, and of children’s children in their sight.
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They get to see their children succeed, get to watch and enjoy their grandchildren.
9 Their houses are secure and peaceable, and the rod of God is not upon them.
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Their homes are peaceful and free from fear; they never experience God's disciplining rod.
10 Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow has calved, and is not deprived of her fruit.
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Their bulls breed with great vigor and their cows calve without fail.
11 Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children dance and play.
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They send their children out to play and watch them frolic like spring lambs.
12 They take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
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They make music with fiddles and flutes, have good times singing and dancing.
13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell.
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They have a long life on easy street, and die painlessly in their sleep.
14 Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
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They say to God, 'Get lost! We've no interest in you or your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what doth it profit us if we pray to him?
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Why should we have dealings with God Almighty? What's there in it for us?'
16 Yet because their good things are not in their hand, may the counsel of the wicked be far from me.
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But they're wrong, dead wrong - they're not gods. It's beyond me how they can carry on like this!
17 How often shall the lamp of the wicked be put out, and a deluge come upon them, and he shall distribute the sorrows of his wrath?
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"Still, how often does it happen that the wicked fail, or disaster strikes, or they get their just deserts?
18 They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as ashes which the whirlwind scattereth.
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How often are they blown away by bad luck? Not very often.
19 God shall lay up the sorrow of the father for his children: and when he shall repay, then shall he know.
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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 His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
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They deserve to experience the effects of their evil, feel the full force of God's wrath firsthand.
21 For what is it to him what befalleth his house after him: and if the number of his months be diminished by one half?
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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 Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that are high?
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"But who are we to tell God how to run his affairs? He's dealing with matters that are way over our heads.
23 One man dieth strong, and hale, rich and happy.
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Some people die in the prime of life, with everything going for them -
24 His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
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fat and sassy.
25 But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches:
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Others die bitter and bereft, never getting a taste of happiness.
26 And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall cover them.
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They're laid out side by side in the cemetery, where the worms can't tell one from the other.
27 Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against me.
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"I'm not deceived. I know what you're up to, the plans you're cooking up to bring me down.
28 For you say: Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
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Naively you claim that the castles of tyrants fall to pieces, that the achievements of the wicked collapse.
29 Ask any one of them that go by the way, and you shall perceive that he knoweth these same things.
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Have you ever asked world travelers how they see it? Have you not listened to their stories
30 Because the wicked man is reserved to the day of destruction, and he shall be brought to the day of wrath.
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Of evil men and women who got off scot-free, who never had to pay for their wickedness?
31 Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
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Did anyone ever confront them with their crimes? Did they ever have to face the music?
32 He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the heap of the dead.
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Not likely - they're given fancy funerals with all the trimmings,
33 He hath been acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus, and he shall draw every man after him, and there are innumerable before him.
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Gently lowered into expensive graves, with everyone telling lies about how wonderful they were.
34 How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is shewn to be repugnant to truth?
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"So how do you expect me to get any comfort from your nonsense? Your so-called comfort is a tissue of lies."
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.