Job 21

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
1 But Job answered and said,	1 Job spoke next. He said:
2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.	2 Listen careful y to my words; let this be the consolation you allow me.
3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.	3 Permit me to speak in my turn; you may jeer when I have spoken.
4 As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?	4 Is my complaint just about a fellow-mortal? I have good grounds to be perturbed!
5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.	5 Give your attention to me; you wil be dumbfounded and wil place your hand over your mouth.
6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.	6 I myself am appalled at the very thought, and my flesh creeps.
7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?	7 Why do the wicked stil live on, their power increasing with their age?
8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.	8 They see their posterity assured, and their offspring secure before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.	9 The peace of their houses has nothing to fear, the rod that God wields is not for them.
10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.	10 No mishap with their bull at breeding-time, nor miscarriage with their cow at calving.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.	11 They let their infants frisk like lambs, their children dance like deer.
12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.	12 They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.	13 They end their lives in happiness and go down in peace to Sheol.
14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.	14 Yet these are the ones who say to God, 'Go away! We do not want to learn your ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?	15 What is the point of our serving Shaddai? What should we gain from praying to him?'
16 Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.	16 Surely they have won their own prosperity, since God is kept so far from their plans?
17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.	17 Do we often see the light of the wicked put out, or disaster overtake him, or the retribution of Goddestroy his possessions,
18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.	18 or the wind blow him away like a straw, or a whirlwind carry him off like chaff?
19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.	19 So God is storing up punishment for his children? But the wicked himself should be punished, andshould know it!
20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.	20 He himself should witness his own ruin, and himself drink the anger of Shaddai.
21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?	21 Once he is gone, what joy can he gain from his family, once the number of his months has been cutoff?
22 Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.	22 But who can teach wisdom to God, to him who is judge of those on high?
23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.	23 And again: one person dies in the ful ness of strength, in all possible happiness and ease,
24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.	24 thighs padded with fat and the marrow in the bones good and moist.
25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.	25 Another dies in bitterness of heart, never having tasted happiness.
26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.	26 They lie together down in the dust and the worms soon cover them both.
27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.	27 Oh, I know what is in your minds, what you so spiteful y think about me!
28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?	28 'What has become of the great lord's house,' you say, 'where is the tent where the wicked used tolive?'
29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,	29 Have you never questioned people who travel, do you not understand the testimony they give:
30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.	30 on the day of disaster, the wicked is spared, on the day of retribution, he is kept safe?
31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?	31 And who is there then to reproach him for his deeds and to pay him back for the things he has done?
32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.	32 He is carried away to the cemetery, and a watch is kept at his tomb.
33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.	33 The clods of the ravine lie easy on him, and the whole population walk behind.
34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?	34 So what sense is there in your empty consolation? your answers are the left-overs of infidelity!