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21:1  Then Job answered:
21:2  “Listen carefully to my words, and let this be the way you comfort me.
21:3  Be patient while I speak. After I have finished, you may continue to make fun of me.
21:4  “My complaint is not just against people; I have reason to be impatient.
21:5  Look at me and be shocked; put your hand over your mouth in shock.
21:6  When I think about this, I am terribly afraid and my body shakes.
21:7  Why do evil people live a long time? They grow old and become more powerful.
21:8  They see their children around them; they watch them grow up.
21:9  Their homes are safe and without fear; God does not punish them.
21:10  Their bulls never fail to mate; their cows have healthy calves.
21:11  They send out their children like a flock; their little ones dance about.
21:12  They sing to the music of tambourines and harps, and the sound of the flute makes them happy.
21:13  Evil people enjoy successful lives and then go peacefully to the grave.
21:14  They say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We don’t want to know your ways.
21:15  Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?’
21:16  The success of the wicked is not their own doing. Their way of thinking is different from mine.
21:17  Yet how often are the lamps of evil people turned off? How often does trouble come to them? How often do they suffer God’s angry punishment?
21:18  How often are they like straw in the wind or like chaff that is blown away by a storm?
21:19  It is said, ‘God saves up a person’s punishment for his children.’ But God should punish the wicked themselves so they will know it.
21:20  Their eyes should see their own destruction, and they should suffer the anger of the Almighty.
21:21  They do not care about the families they leave behind when their lives have come to an end.
21:22  “No one can teach knowledge to God; he is the one who judges even the most important people.
21:23  One person dies while he still has all his strength, feeling completely safe and comfortable.
21:24  His body was well fed, and his bones were strong and healthy.
21:25  But another person dies with an unhappy heart, never enjoying any happiness.
21:26  They are buried next to each other, and worms cover them both.
21:27  “I know very well your thoughts and your plans to wrong me.
21:28  You ask about me, ‘Where is this great man’s house? Where are the tents where the wicked live?’
21:29  Have you never asked those who travel? Have you never listened to their stories?
21:30  On the day of God’s anger and punishment, it is the wicked who are spared.
21:31  Who will accuse them to their faces? Who will pay them back for the evil they have done?
21:32  They are carried to their graves, and someone keeps watch over their tombs.
21:33  The dirt in the valley seems sweet to them. Everybody follows after them, and many people go before them.
21:34  “So how can you comfort me with this nonsense? Your answers are only lies!”