Third Millennium Bible TMB
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 But Job answered and said:
1 Then Job replied [to his friends],
2 "Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
2 "Listen carefully to my words, and let that be the comfort you offer me.
3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after I have spoken, mock on.
3 Bear with me while I speak. Then after I've spoken, you may go on mocking.
4 "As for me, is my complaint to man? And if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?
4 Am I complaining about a person? Why shouldn't I be impatient?
5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth!
5 Look at me, and be shocked, and put [your] hand over [your] mouth.
6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
6 When I remember it, I'm terrified, and shuddering seizes my body.
7 Why do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
7 "Why do the wicked go on living, grow old, and even become more powerful?
8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.
8 They see their children firmly established with them, and they get to see their descendants.
9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
9 Their homes are free from fear, and God doesn't use his rod on them.
10 Their bull breeds, and faileth not; their cow calveth and casteth not her calf.
10 Their bulls are fertile when they breed. Their cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
11 They send their little children out [to play] like a flock of lambs, and their children dance around.
12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
12 They sing with the tambourine and lyre, and they are happy with the music of the flute.
13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
13 They spend their days in happiness, and they go peacefully to the grave.
14 Therefore they say unto God, `Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.
14 But they say to God, 'Leave us alone. We don't want to know your ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit should we have, if we pray unto Him?'
15 Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? What do we gain if we pray to him?'
16 Lo, their good is not in their hand; the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
16 Anyhow, isn't their happiness in their own power? (The plan of the wicked is foreign to my way of thinking.)
17 "How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! And how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in His anger.
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?
18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
18 How often are they like straw in the wind or like husks that the storm sweeps away?
19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children; He rewardeth him, and he shall know it.
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.
20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
20 His eyes should see his own ruin. He should drink from the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
21 How can he be interested in his family after he's gone, when the number of his months is cut short?
22 "Shall any teach God knowledge, seeing He judgeth those that are high?
22 "Can anyone teach God knowledge? Can anyone judge the Most High?
23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
23 One person dies in his prime and feels altogether happy and contented.
24 His milk pails are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
24 His stomach is full of milk, and his bones are strong and healthy.
25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
25 Another person, never having tasted happiness, dies with a bitter soul.
26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
26 Together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them.
27 "Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.
27 "You see, I know your thoughts and the schemes you plot against me
28 For ye say, `Where is the house of the prince? And where are the dwelling places of the wicked?'
28 because you ask, 'Where is the house of the influential person? Where is the tent where wicked people live?'
29 Have ye not asked them that go along the way? And do ye not know their tokens,
29 Haven't you asked travelers? But you didn't pay attention to their directions.
30 that the wicked are reserved for the day of destruction? They shall be brought forth on the day of wrath.
30 On the day of disaster the wicked person is spared. On the day of [God's] anger he is rescued.
31 Who shall declare his way to his face? And who shall repay him what he hath done?
31 Who will tell him to his face how he lived? Who will pay him back for what he did?
32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
32 He is carried to the cemetery, and his grave is guarded.
33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.
33 The soil in the creekbed is sweet to him. Everyone follows him. Countless others went before him.
34 "How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?"
34 How can you comfort me with this nonsense when your answers continue to betray me?"
Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.