Job 21

DOUAI-RHEIMS	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Then Job answered, and said:	1 Then Job said in reply:
2 Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance.	2 At least listen to my words, and let that be the consolation you offer.
3 Suffer me, and I will speak, and after, if you please, laugh at my words.	3 Bear with me while I speak; and after I have spoken, you can mock!
4 Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to be troubled?	4 Is my complaint toward man? And why should I not be impatient?
5 Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your finger on your mouth.	5 Look at me and be astonished, put your hands over your mouths.
6 As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.	6 When I think of it, I am dismayed, and horror takes hold on my flesh.
7 Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches?	7 Why do the wicked survive, grow old, become mighty in power?
8 Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen, and of children's children in their sight.	8 Their progeny is secure in their sight; they see before them their kinsfolk and their offspring.
9 Their houses are secure and peaceable, and the rod of God is not upon them.	9 Their homes are safe and without fear, nor is the scourge of God upon them.
10 Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow has calved, and is not deprived of her fruit.	10 Their bulls gender without fail; their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11 Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children dance and play.	11 These folk have infants numerous as lambs, and their children dance.
12 They take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.	12 They sing to the timbrel and harp, and make merry to the sound of the flute.
13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell.	13 They live out their days in prosperity, and tranquilly go down to the nether world.
14 Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.	14 Yet they say to God, "Depart from us, for we have no wish to learn your ways!
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what doth it profit us if we pray to him?	15 What is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what gain shall we have if we pray to him?"
16 Yet because their good things are not in their hand, may the counsel of the wicked be far from me.	16 If their happiness is not in their own hands and if the counsel of the wicked is repulsive to God,
17 How often shall the lamp of the wicked be put out, and a deluge come upon them, and he shall distribute the sorrows of his wrath?	17 How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does destruction come upon them, the portion he allots in his anger?
18 They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as ashes which the whirlwind scattereth.	18 Let them be like straw before the wind, and like chaff which the storm snatches away!
19 God shall lay up the sorrow of the father for his children: and when he shall repay, then shall he know.	19 May God not store up the man's misery for his children; let him requite the man himself so that he feels it,
20 His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.	20 Let his own eyes see the calamity, and the wrath of the Almighty let him drink!
21 For what is it to him what befalleth his house after him: and if the number of his months be diminished by one half?	21 For what interest has he in his family after him, when the number of his months is finished?
22 Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that are high?	22 Can anyone teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those on high?
23 One man dieth strong, and hale, rich and happy.	23 One dies in his full vigor, wholly at ease and content;
24 His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with marrow.	24 His figure is full and nourished, and his bones are rich in marrow.
25 But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches:	25 Another dies in bitterness of soul, having never tasted happiness.
26 And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall cover them.	26 Alike they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.
27 Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against me.	27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the arguments you rehearse against me.
28 For you say: Where is the house of the prince ? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?	28 For you say, "Where is the house of the magnate, and where the dwelling place of the wicked?"
29 Ask any one of them that go by the way, and you shall perceive that he knoweth these same things.	29 Have you not asked the wayfarers and do you not recognize their monuments?
30 Because the wicked man is reserved to the day of destruction, and he shall be brought to the day of wrath.	30 Nay, the evil man is spared calamity when it comes;
31 Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?	31 Who will charge him with his conduct to his face, and for what he has done who will repay him?
32 He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the heap of the dead.	32 and on the day he is carried to the grave
33 He hath been acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus, and he shall draw every man after him, and there are innumerable before him.	33 Sweet to him are the clods of the valley, and over him the funeral mound keeps watch, While all the line of mankind follows him, and the countless others who have gone before.
34 How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is shewn to be repugnant to truth ?	34 How then can you offer me vain comfort, while in your answers perfidy remains?