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21:1  But Job answered:
21:2  “Listen carefully to my speech, and let this be your consolation.
21:3  Bear with me that I may speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.
21:4  “As for me, is my complaint against man? And if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?
21:5  Look at me and be astonished, and put your hand over your mouth.
21:6  Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling takes hold of my body.
21:7  Why do the wicked live and become old; yes, become mighty in power?
21:8  Their descendants are established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes.
21:9  Their houses are safe from fear, nor is the rod of God upon them.
21:10  Their bull breeds without failure; their cow gives calves without miscarriage.
21:11  They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
21:12  They take up the tambourine and harp and rejoice at the sound of the flute.
21:13  They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to Sheol.
21:14  Therefore they say to God, ‘Depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.
21:15  Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?’
21:16  Indeed, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
21:17  “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does their destruction come upon them, the sorrows God distributes in His anger?
21:18  They are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that a storm carries away.
21:19  God stores up their iniquity for their children; let Him reward the people themselves, and they will know it.
21:20  Let their eyes see their own destruction, and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21:21  For what do they care about their households after them, when the number of their months is cut off?
21:22  “Can anyone teach God knowledge, since He judges those who are on high?
21:23  One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and secure.
21:24  His pails are full of milk, and the marrow of his bones is moist.
21:25  Another dies in the bitterness of his soul, never having eaten with pleasure.
21:26  They will lie down alike in the dust, and worms will cover them.
21:27  “Behold, I know your thoughts, and the schemes with which you would wrong me.
21:28  For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince? And where are the dwelling places of the wicked?’
21:29  Have you not asked them who travel the road? And do you not know their signs?
21:30  For the wicked are reserved for the day of destruction; they will be brought forth on the day of wrath.
21:31  Who will declare his way to his face? And who will repay him for what he has done?
21:32  Yet will he be brought to the grave and will remain in the tomb.
21:33  The clods of the valley will be sweet unto him; and everyone will follow him, as countless have gone before.
21:34  “How then can you comfort me with emptiness, since deceit remains in your answers?”