Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
New Living Translation NLT
1 Then Job answered, and said:
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Then Job spoke again:
2 Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance.
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“Listen closely to what I am saying. That’s one consolation you can give me.
3 Suffer me, and I will speak, and after, if you please, laugh at my words.
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Bear with me, and let me speak. After I have spoken, you may resume mocking me.
4 Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to be troubled?
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“My complaint is with God, not with people. I have good reason to be so impatient.
5 Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your finger on your mouth.
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Look at me and be stunned. Put your hand over your mouth in shock.
6 As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
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When I think about what I am saying, I shudder. My body trembles.
7 Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches?
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“Why do the wicked prosper, growing old and powerful?
8 Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen, and of children’s children in their sight.
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They live to see their children grow up and settle down, and they 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 safe from every fear, and God does not punish them.
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 never fail to breed. Their cows bear calves and never miscarry.
11 Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children dance and play.
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They let their children frisk about like lambs. Their little ones skip and dance.
12 They take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
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They sing with tambourine and harp. They celebrate to the sound of the flute.
13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell.
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They spend their days in prosperity, then go down to the grave in peace.
14 Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
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And yet they say to God, ‘Go away. We want no part of you and 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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Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us to pray?’
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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(They think their prosperity is of their own doing, but I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.)
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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“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 They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as ashes which the whirlwind scattereth.
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Are they driven before the wind like straw? Are they carried away by the storm like chaff? Not at all!
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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“‘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 His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
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Let them see their destruction with their own eyes. Let them drink deeply of the anger of the Almighty.
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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For they will not care what happens to their family after they are dead.
22 Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that are high?
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“But who can teach a lesson to God, since he judges even the most powerful?
23 One man dieth strong, and hale, rich and happy.
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One person dies in prosperity, completely comfortable and secure,
24 His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
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the picture of good health, vigorous and fit.
25 But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches:
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Another person dies in bitter poverty, never having tasted the good life.
26 And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall cover them.
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But both are buried in the same dust, both eaten by the same maggots.
27 Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against me.
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“Look, I know what you’re thinking. I know the schemes you plot against me.
28 For you say: Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
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You will tell me of rich and wicked people whose houses have vanished because of their sins.
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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But ask those who have been around, and they will tell you the truth.
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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Evil people are spared in times of calamity and are allowed to escape disaster.
31 Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
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No one criticizes them openly or pays them back for what they have done.
32 He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the heap of the dead.
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When they are carried to the grave, an honor guard keeps watch at their tomb.
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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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 then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is shewn to be repugnant to truth?
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“How can your empty clichés comfort me? All your explanations are lies!”
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