Job 21

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW JERUSALEM
1 Then Job responded by saying:	1 Job spoke next. He said:
2 I beseech you to hear my words and to do penance.	2 Listen careful y to my words; let this be the consolation you allow me.
3 Permit me, and I will speak, and afterwards, if you see fit, you can laugh at my words.	3 Permit me to speak in my turn; you may jeer when I have spoken.
4 Is my dispute against man, so that I would have no reason to be discouraged?	4 Is my complaint just about a fellow-mortal? I have good grounds to be perturbed!
5 Listen to me and be astonished, and place a finger over your mouth.	5 Give your attention to me; you wil be dumbfounded and wil place your hand over your mouth.
6 As for me, when I think it over, I am afraid, and trembling convulses my body.	6 I myself am appalled at the very thought, and my flesh creeps.
7 Why then do the impious live, having been lifted up and strengthened with riches?	7 Why do the wicked stil live on, their power increasing with their age?
8 They see their offspring continue before them: a commotion of close relatives and of children’s children in their sight.	8 They see their posterity assured, and their offspring secure before their eyes.
9 Their houses have been secure and peaceable, and there is no staff of God over them.	9 The peace of their houses has nothing to fear, the rod that God wields is not for them.
10 Their cattle have conceived and have not miscarried; their cow has given birth and is not deprived of her newborn.	10 No mishap with their bull at breeding-time, nor miscarriage with their cow at calving.
11 Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children jump around playfully.	11 They let their infants frisk like lambs, their children dance like deer.
12 They take up the timbrel and the lyre, and they rejoice at the sound of the organ.	12 They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
13 Their days are prolonged in wealth, yet, in an instant, they descend into hell.	13 They end their lives in happiness and go down in peace to Sheol.
14 Who has said to God, “Depart from us, for we do not want the knowledge of your ways.	14 Yet these are the ones who say to God, 'Go away! We do not want to learn your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And how is it helpful to us if we pray to him?”	15 What is the point of our serving Shaddai? What should we gain from praying to him?'
16 It is true that their good things are not in their power. May the counsel of the impious be far from me!	16 Surely they have won their own prosperity, since God is kept so far from their plans?
17 How often will the lamp of the wicked be extinguished, and a deluge overtake them, and how often will he distribute the afflictions of his wrath?	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 will be like chaff before the face of the wind, and like ashes that the whirlwind scatters.	18 or the wind blow him away like a straw, or a whirlwind carry him off like chaff?
19 God will preserve the grief of the father for his sons, and, when he repays, then he will understand.	19 So God is storing up punishment for his children? But the wicked himself should be punished, andshould know it!
20 His eyes will see his own destruction, and he will drink from the wrath of the Almighty.	20 He himself should witness his own ruin, and himself drink the anger of Shaddai.
21 For what does he care what happens to his house after him, or if the number of its months are reduced by half?	21 Once he is gone, what joy can he gain from his family, once the number of his months has been cutoff?
22 Can anyone teach holy knowledge to God, who judges the exalted?	22 But who can teach wisdom to God, to him who is judge of those on high?
23 This one dies strong and healthy, rich and happy.	23 And again: one person dies in the ful ness of strength, in all possible happiness and ease,
24 His gut is full of fat and his bones are moistened with marrow.	24 thighs padded with fat and the marrow in the bones good and moist.
25 In truth, another dies in bitterness of soul, without any resources.	25 Another dies in bitterness of heart, never having tasted happiness.
26 And yet they will sleep together in the dust, and worms will cover them.	26 They lie together down in the dust and the worms soon cover them both.
27 Surely, I know your thoughts and your sinful judgments against me.	27 Oh, I know what is in your minds, what you so spiteful y think about me!
28 For you say, “Where is the house of the ruler, and where are the tabernacles of the impious?”	28 'What has become of the great lord's house,' you say, 'where is the tent where the wicked used tolive?'
29 Ask any passerby whom you wish, and you will realize that he understands these same things:	29 Have you never questioned people who travel, do you not understand the testimony they give:
30 that the evil-doer is reserved for the day of destruction, and he will be led 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 will reprove his way to his face, and who will repay him for what he has 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 He will be led to the tomb, and he will remain awake in the chaos of the dead.	32 He is carried away to the cemetery, and a watch is kept at his tomb.
33 He has been found acceptable to the banks of the River of Lamentation, and he will draw any man towards him, and there are countless before him.	33 The clods of the ravine lie easy on him, and the whole population walk behind.
34 Therefore, how long will you console me in vain, when your answer is shown to be repugnant to truth?	34 So what sense is there in your empty consolation? your answers are the left-overs of infidelity!