New King James Version

New International Version

Job’s Discourse on the Wicked

Then Job answered and said:

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Job

Then Job replied:

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“Listen carefully to my speech,
And let this be your [a]consolation.

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“Listen carefully to my words;
let this be the consolation you give me.

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Bear with me that I may speak,
And after I have spoken, keep mocking.

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Bear with me while I speak,
and after I have spoken, mock on.

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“As for me, is my complaint against man?
And if it were, why should I not be impatient?

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“Is my complaint directed to a human being?
Why should I not be impatient?

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Look at me and be astonished;
Put your hand over your mouth.

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Look at me and be appalled;
clap your hand over your mouth.

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Even when I remember I am terrified,
And trembling takes hold of my flesh.

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When I think about this, I am terrified;
trembling seizes my body.

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Why do the wicked live and become old,
Yes, become mighty in power?

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Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power?

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Their descendants are established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes.

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They see their children established around them,
their offspring before their eyes.

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Their houses are safe from fear,
Neither is [b]the rod of God upon them.

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Their homes are safe and free from fear;
the rod of God is not on them.

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Their bull breeds without failure;
Their cow calves without miscarriage.

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Their bulls never fail to breed;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.

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They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children dance.

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They send forth their children as a flock;
their little ones dance about.

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They sing to the tambourine and harp,
And rejoice to the sound of the flute.

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They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;
they make merry to the sound of the pipe.

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They spend their days in wealth,
And [c]in a moment go down to the [d]grave.

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They spend their years in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.a

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Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us,
For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.

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Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
We have no desire to know your ways.

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Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?
And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?’

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Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain by praying to him?’

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Indeed [e]their prosperity is not in their hand;
The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

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But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

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“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?

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“Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
How often does calamity come upon them,
the fate God allots in his anger?

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They are like straw before the wind,
And like chaff that a storm [f]carries away.

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How often are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff swept away by a gale?

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They say, ‘God [g]lays up [h]one’s iniquity for his children’;
Let Him recompense him, that he may know it.

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It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’
Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!

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Let his eyes see his destruction,
And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

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Let their own eyes see their destruction;
let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.

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For what does he care about his household after him,
When the number of his months is cut in half?

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For what do they care about the families they leave behind
when their allotted months come to an end?

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“Can anyone teach God knowledge,
Since He judges those on high?

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“Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
since he judges even the highest?

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One dies in his full strength,
Being wholly at ease and secure;

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One person dies in full vigor,
completely secure and at ease,

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His [i]pails are full of milk,
And the marrow of his bones is moist.

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well nourished in body,b
bones rich with marrow.

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Another man dies in the bitterness of his soul,
Never having eaten with pleasure.

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Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having enjoyed anything good.

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They lie down alike in the dust,
And worms cover them.

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Side by side they lie in the dust,
and worms cover them both.

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“Look, I know your thoughts,
And the schemes with which you would wrong me.

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“I know full well what you are thinking,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.

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For you say,
‘Where is the house of the prince?
And where is [j]the tent,
The dwelling place of the wicked?’

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You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,
the tents where the wicked lived?’

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Have you not asked those who travel the road?
And do you not know their signs?

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Have you never questioned those who travel?
Have you paid no regard to their accounts —

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For the wicked are reserved for the day of doom;
They shall be brought out on the day of wrath.

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that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,
that they are delivered fromc the day of wrath?

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Who condemns his way to his face?
And who repays him for what he has done?

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Who denounces their conduct to their face?
Who repays them for what they have done?

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Yet he shall be brought to the grave,
And a vigil kept over the tomb.

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They are carried to the grave,
and watch is kept over their tombs.

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The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him;
Everyone shall follow him,
As countless have gone before him.

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The soil in the valley is sweet to them;
everyone follows after them,
and a countless throng goesd before them.

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How then can you comfort me with empty words,
Since [k]falsehood remains in your answers?”

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“So how can you console me with your nonsense?
Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”

Parallel

New King James Version

New International Version

Job 21

Job 21