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21:1  Job then answered with these words:
21:2  “Listen carefully to my words; at the very least, grant me this consolation.
21:3  Bear with me while I speak; once I have finished, you may jeer.
21:4  “Is my complaint limited to my fellow men? Do I not have good reason to be impatient?
21:5  If you consider my plight carefully, you will have good reason to be appalled and to place your hand over your mouth.
21:6  The very thought of it fills me with horror, and my entire body shudders.
21:7  “Why do the wicked continue to survive, achieving old age and increasing in power?
21:8  They behold their children established around them and their descendants continuing to flourish.
21:9  Their households are secure, with no cause for fear; the rod of God does not descend upon them.
21:10  Their bulls breed without fail; their cows give birth without miscarriage.
21:11  “The wicked send forth children as a flock; their little ones dance and frolic.
21:12  They sing to the sound of the tambourine and the harp and rejoice at the playing of the flute.
21:13  They spend their days in prosperity and go down to the netherworld in peace.
21:14  “Despite this, these people say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We do not want to learn your ways.
21:15  Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what would we gain by praying to him?’
21:16  Is not the prosperity of the wicked the result of their own efforts, since they have never sought God’s help?
21:17  “Yet, how often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished? How often does calamity befall them as God in his anger uses his retribution to repay them?
21:18  How often are they like straw blown away by the wind or like chaff that the storm carries off?
21:19  “According to you, God stores up punishment for a man’s children, but the wicked should be the ones punished and requited for their evil.
21:20  Let his own eyes witness the destruction of God that his sins have earned, and let him quaff the wrath of the Almighty!
21:21  For what concern will he have for his family once his allotted number of months has been completed?
21:22  “Who can offer wisdom to God when God judges those who are on high?
21:23  One man passes away while enjoying vigorous health, blessed with security and contentment;
21:24  his loins are full of vigor and his bones are rich in marrow.
21:25  Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted happiness.
21:26  Both are consigned to lie down in the earth and worms soon cover them.
21:27  “Believe me, I know what your thoughts are, as well as the arguments you will use to counter me.
21:28  You will say, ‘Where now is the great lord’s house? Where is the tent in which the wicked man dwelled?’
21:29  Have you never questioned travelers? Do you ever listen to the evidence they proffer?
21:30  They testify that the wicked man is saved from disaster and is rescued before the day of wrath.
21:31  “Who will reproach him for his conduct and repay him for the evil he has done?
21:32  When he is carried to the grave, a watch is maintained over his tomb.
21:33  The clods of the valley are sweet to him; the remainder of mankind will follow him, and those who preceded him are beyond counting.
21:34  How then can you possibly offer me any comfort when your words lack any semblance of truth?”