21:2 “Listen carefully to my words [C Job feels that his previous speeches have not been heard], and let this be ·the way you comfort me [L your consolation].
21:3 ·Be patient [Bear with me] while I speak. After I have finished, you may ·continue to make fun of [ridicule; mock] me.
21:4 “My complaint is not just against people; I have reason to be impatient.
21:5 Look at me and be ·shocked [desolated]; put your hand over your mouth in shock.
21:6 When I think about this [C the success of the wicked], I am terribly afraid and ·my body shakes [L trembling seizes my flesh].
21:7 Why ·do evil people live a long time [L are evil people allowed to live]? They grow old and ·become more powerful [increase in strength].
21:8 They see their children ·around [L established before] them; they watch them grow up.
21:9 Their homes are safe and without fear; ·God does not punish them [L God’s rod is not on them].
21:10 Their bulls never fail to mate; their cows ·have healthy calves [L calve and have no miscarriages].
21:11 They send out their ·children [infants] like a flock [C they will have many children, a sign of blessing]; their ·little ones [children] dance about.
21:12 They sing to the music of tambourines and ·harps [lyres], and the sound of the flute makes them ·happy [rejoice].
21:13 Evil people ·enjoy successful lives [L live out their days in prosperity] and then go ·peacefully [in tranquility] to ·the grave [L Sheol].
21:14 They say to God, ‘·Leave us alone [Get away from me]! We don’t ·want [desire] to know your ways.
21:15 Who is ·the Almighty [Shaddai] that we should serve him? What would we gain by ·praying to [interceding with] him?’
21:16 ·The success of the wicked is not their own doing [or Is not the success/prosperity of the wicked in their control/hand?]. Their ·way of thinking [plan; counsel] is ·different [far] from ·mine [or his; C that is, God’s].
21:17 Yet how often are the lamps of evil people ·turned off [extinguished; C the implied answer is not often; Job questions the type of teaching found in Proverbs; Prov. 24:19–20]? How often does ·trouble [calamity] come to them [Prov. 24:21–22]? How often ·do they suffer God’s angry punishment [L does he deal out pain in his anger]?
21:18 ·How often are they [or Let them be] like straw in the wind or like chaff that is blown away by a storm [Ps. 1:4]?
21:19 It is said [C defenders of the idea that the wicked suffer for their sins], ‘God ·saves [stores] up a person’s ·punishment [guilt] for his children.’ But God should ·punish [pay back] the wicked themselves so they will know it.
21:20 Their eyes should see their own destruction, and they should ·suffer [L drink from the] the anger of ·the Almighty [Shaddai].
21:21 They do not care about the families they leave behind when their lives have come to an end.
21:22 “·No one [L Who…?] can teach knowledge to God; he is the one who judges even the most ·important [exalted] people [C Job wants to teach God to punish the wicked but thinks his attempt will be futile].
21:23 One person dies ·while he still has all his strength [L in perfect vigor], feeling completely safe and ·comfortable [untroubled].
21:24 His ·body [or pail] was ·well fed [L full of milk], and ·his bones were strong and healthy [L the marrow of his bones were well lubricated].
21:25 But another person dies ·with an unhappy heart [L in bitterness], never enjoying ·any happiness [or the good life].
21:26 They ·are buried next to each other [L lie down together in the dust], and worms cover them both.
21:27 “I know very well your thoughts and your ·plans [schemes] to ·wrong [hurt; do violence to] me.
21:28 You [C the friends] ask, ‘Where is this ·great man’s [L prince’s] house? Where are the tents where the wicked live [C they don’t agree with Job that the wicked are rich and successful]?’
21:29 Have you never asked those who ·travel [L pass by on the road]? Have you ·never listened to their stories [L not recognized their signs]?
21:30 On the day of ·God’s anger and punishment [L calamity; disaster], 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 [C a sign of a peaceful death and burial].
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 [empty/meaningless drivel]? Your answers are ·only lies [or disloyal]!”
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