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Job 21 :: Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

God Does Not Punish the Wicked

Job 21:1

Then Job answered and said,

Job 21:2

“Listen carefully to my speech,

And let this be your way of consolation.

Job 21:3

“Bear with me that I may speak;

Then after I have spoken, you may mock.

Job 21:4

“As for me, is my musing [fn]to man?

And why should [fn]I not be impatient?

Job 21:5

“Look at me, and be appalled,

And put your hand over your mouth.

Job 21:6

“Even when I remember, I am dismayed,

And horror seizes my flesh.

Job 21:7

“Why do the wicked still live,

Continue on, also become very powerful?

Job 21:8

“Their seed is established with them in their presence,

And their offspring before their eyes,

Job 21:9

Their houses are safe from dread,

And the rod of God is not on them.

Job 21:10

“His ox mates and does not fail;

His cow calves and does not miscarry.

Job 21:11

“They send forth their little ones like the flock,

And their children skip about.

Job 21:12

“They lift up the tambourine and harp

And are glad at the sound of the pipe.

Job 21:13

“They spend their days in prosperity,

And [fn]suddenly they go down to Sheol.

Job 21:14

“They say to God, ‘Depart from us!

We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.

Job 21:15

[fn]Who is [fn]the Almighty, that we should serve Him,

And what would we profit if we entreat Him?’

Job 21:16

“Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand;

The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

Job 21:17

“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out,

Or does their disaster fall on them?

Does [fn]God apportion destruction in His anger?

Job 21:18

“Are they as straw before the wind,

And like chaff which the storm steals away?

Job 21:19

You say, ‘God stores away [fn]a man’s wickedness for his sons.’

Let [fn]God repay him so that he may know it.

Job 21:20

“Let his own eyes see his decay,

And let him drink of the wrath of [fn]the Almighty.

Job 21:21

“For what desire does he have for his household [fn]after him,

When the number of his months is cut off?

Job 21:22

“Can anyone teach God knowledge,

In that He judges those on high?

Job 21:23

“One dies in his full strength,

Being wholly carefree and at ease;

Job 21:24

His [fn]sides are filled out with fat,

And the marrow of his bones is moist,

Job 21:25

But another dies with a bitter soul,

Never even eats anything good.

Job 21:26

“Together they lie down in the dust,

And worms cover them.

Job 21:27

“Behold, I know your thoughts,

And the plans by which you do violence against me.

Job 21:28

“For you say, ‘Where is the house of the nobleman,

And where is the tent, the dwelling places of the wicked?’

Job 21:29

“Have you not asked those who pass by along the way,

And do you not recognize their [fn]witness?

Job 21:30

“That the wicked is reserved for the day of disaster;

They will be led forth at the day of fury.

Job 21:31

“Who will declare to his face about his actions,

And who will repay him for what he has done?

Job 21:32

“While he is led forth to the grave,

Men will keep watch over his tomb.

Job 21:33

“The clods of the valley will [fn]gently cover him;

Moreover, all men will draw up after him,

While countless ones go before him.

Job 21:34

“How then will you vainly comfort me,

Indeed when your answers remain full of [fn]falsehood?”

LSB Footnotes
Or against
Lit my spirit
As in most versions; M.T. are shattered by Sheol
Lit What
Heb Shaddai
Lit He
Lit his
Lit Him
Heb Shaddai
After he dies
As in Syr; Heb uncertain; some Heb mss render as his pails are full of milk
Lit signs
Lit be sweet to him
Or faithlessness
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Job Chapter 21 — Additional Translations: