The Book of Job

21: 1Then Job answered and said,

 ^21:2Hear diligently my speech;

 And let this be your consolations.

 ^21:3Suffer me, and I also will speak;

 And after that I have spoken, mock on.

 ^21:4As for me, is my complaint to man?

 And why should I not be impatient?

 ^21:5Mark me, and be astonished,

 And lay your hand upon your mouth.

 ^21:6Even when I remember I am troubled,

 And horror taketh hold on my flesh.

 ^21:7Wherefore do the wicked live,

 Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?

 ^21:8Their seed is established with them in their sight,

 And their offspring before their eyes.

 ^21:9Their houses are safe from fear,

 Neither is the rod of God upon them.

 ^21:10Their bull gendereth, and faileth not;

 Their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.

 ^21:11They send forth their little ones like a flock,

 And their children dance.

 ^21:12They sing to the timbrel and harp,

 And rejoice at the sound of the pipe.

 ^21:13They spend their days in prosperity,

 And in a moment they go down to Sheol.

 ^21:14And they say unto God, Depart from us;

 For we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.

 ^21:15What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?

 And what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

 ^21:16Lo, their prosperity is not in their hand:

 The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
 
 

 ^21:17How oft is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out?

 That their calamity cometh upon them?

 That God distributeth sorrows in his anger?

 ^21:18That they are as stubble before the wind,

 And as chaff that the storm carrieth away?

 ^21:19Ye say, God layeth up his iniquity for his children.

 Let him recompense it unto himself, that he may know it:

 ^21:20Let his own eyes see his destruction,

 And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

 ^21:21For what careth he for his house after him,

 When the number of his months is cut off?

 ^21:22Shall any teach God knowledge,

 Seeing he judgeth those that are high?

 ^21:23One dieth in his full strength,

 Being wholly at ease and quiet:

 ^21:24His pails are full of milk,

 And the marrow of his bones is moistened.

 ^21:25And another dieth in bitterness of soul,

 And never tasteth of good.

 ^21:26They lie down alike in the dust,

 And the worm covereth them.
 
 

 ^21:27Behold, I know your thoughts,

 And the devices wherewith ye would wrong me.

 ^21:28For ye say, Where is the house of the prince?

 And where is the tent wherein the wicked dwelt?

 ^21:29Have ye not asked wayfaring men?

 And do ye not know their evidences,

 ^21:30That the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity?

 That they are led forth to the day of wrath?

 ^21:31Who shall declare his way to his face?

 And who shall repay him what he hath done?

 ^21:32Yet shall he be borne to the grave,

 And men shall keep watch over the tomb.

 ^21:33The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him,

 And all men shall draw after him,

 As there were innumerable before him.

 ^21:34How then comfort ye me in vain,

 Seeing in your answers there remaineth only falsehood?