Dual Panel1Then Job <0347> answered <06030>:
2“Listen <08085> carefully <08085> to my words <04405>; let this <02063> be the consolation <08575> you offer me.
3Bear <05375> with me and I <0595> will speak <01696>, and after <0310> I have spoken <01696> you may mock <03932>.
4Is my <0595> complaint <07879> against a man <0120>? If <0518> so, why <04069> should I not <03808> be impatient <07307> <07114>?
5Look <06437> at <0413> me and be appalled <08074>; put <07760> your hands <03027> over <05921> your mouths <06310>.
6For, when I think <02142> about this, I am terrified <0926> and my body <01320> feels <0270> a shudder <06427>.
7“Why <04069> do the wicked <07563> go on living <02421>, grow old <06275>, even <01571> increase <01396> in power <02428>?
8Their children <02233> are firmly established <03559> in their presence <06440>, their offspring <06631> before <05973> their eyes <05869>.
9Their houses <01004> are safe <07965> and without fear <06343>; and no <03808> rod <07626> of punishment from God <0433> is upon <05921> them.
10Their bulls <07794> breed <05674> without <03808> fail <01602>; their cows <06510> calve <06403> and do not <03808> miscarry <07921>.
11They allow <07971> their children <05759> to run like a flock <06629>; their little ones <03206> dance about <07540>.
12They sing <05375> to the accompaniment of tambourine <08596> and harp <03658>, and make merry <08055> to the sound <06963> of the flute <05748>.
13They live out <01086> their years <03117> in prosperity <02896> and go down <05181> to the grave <07585> in peace <07281>.
14So they say <0559> to God <0410>, ‘Turn away <05493> from <04480> us! We do not <03808> want <02654> to know <01847> your ways <01870>.
15Who <04100> is the Almighty <07706>, that <03588> we should serve <05647> him? What <04100> would we gain <03276> if <03588> we were to pray <06293> to him?’
16But their prosperity <02898> is not <03808> their own doing <03027>. The counsel <06098> of the wicked <07563> is far <07368> from <04480> me!
17“How <04100> often is the lamp <05216> of the wicked <07563> extinguished <01846>? How often does their misfortune <0343> come <0935> upon <05921> them? How often does God apportion <02505> pain <02256> to them in his anger <0639>?
18How often are they like straw <08401> before <06440> the wind <07307>, and like chaff <04671> swept away by a whirlwind <05492>?
19You may say, ‘God <0433> stores <06845> up a man’s <0205> punishment for <0413> his children <01121>!’ Instead let him repay <07999> the man himself so that he may know <03045> it!
20Let his own eyes <05869> see <07200> his destruction <03589>; let him drink <08354> of the anger <02534> of the Almighty <07706>.
21For <03588> what <04100> is his interest <02656> in his home <01004> after <0310> his death, when the number <04557> of his months <02320> has been broken off <02686>?
22Can anyone teach <03925> God <0410> knowledge <01847>, since he <01931> judges <08199> those that are on high <07311>?
23“One <02088> man dies <04191> in his full <08537> vigor <06106>, completely <03605> secure <07946> and prosperous <07961>,
24his body <05845> well nourished <04390>, and the marrow <04221> of his bones <06106> moist <08248>.
25And another man <02088> dies <04191> in bitterness <04751> of soul <05315>, never <03808> having tasted <0398> anything good <02896>.
26Together <03162> they lie down <07901> in <05921> the dust <06083>, and worms <07415> cover <03680> over <05921> them both.
27“Yes <02005>, I know <03045> what you are thinking <04284>, the schemes <04209> by <05921> which you would wrong <02554> me.
28For <03588> you say <0559>, ‘Where <0346> now is the nobleman’s <05081> house <01004>, and where <0346> are the tents <0168> in which <04908> the wicked <07563> lived <04908>?’
29Have you never questioned <07592> those who travel <05674> the roads <01870>? Do you not <03808> recognize <05234> their accounts <0226>–
30that <03588> the evil <07451> man is spared <02820> from the day <03117> of his misfortune <0343>, that he is delivered <02986> from the day <03117> of God’s wrath <05678>?
31No one denounces <05046> his conduct <01870> to <05921> his face <06440>; no one repays <07999> him for what he has done <06213>.
32And when he <01931> is carried <02986> to <05921> the tombs <06913>, and watch <08245> is kept over <08245> the funeral mound <01430>,
33The clods <07263> of the torrent valley <05158> are sweet <04985> to him; behind <0310> him everybody <0120> <03605> follows <04900> in procession, and before <06440> him goes a countless <04557> <0369> throng.
34So how <0349> can you console <05162> me with your futile <01892> words? Nothing is left <07604> of your answers <08666> but deception <04604>!”