Job 21

CLV(i) 1 So Job answered and said: 2 Hearken, yea hearken to my declaration, And let this be your consolations to me. 3 Bear with me while I am speaking, And after I have spoken, you may deride. 4 As for me, is my concern directed to a human? And if so, for what reason should my spirit not be impatient? 5 Face me, and be desolated, And place your hand over your mouth. 6 When I remember this, I am filled with panic, And shuddering takes hold of my flesh. 7 For what reason should the wicked live on? They develop and become masterful with potent power. 8 Their seed is established with them in their presence, And their offspring in front of their eyes. 9 Their houses remain in peace apart from alarm, And no club of Eloah is upon them. 10 Their bull passes semen and is never fruitless; Their young cow delivers and does not miscarry. 11 They let their babes go forth like a flock, And their children are dancing. 12 They lift up in song with tambourine and harp, And they rejoice to the sound of the shepherd's pipe. 13 They finish their days in good, And they settle down in a quiet moment to the unseen. 14 Yet they say to El, Go away from us, For we do not desire a knowledge of Your ways. 15 What is He Who Suffices that we should serve Him? And what benefit would we gain that we should make intercession to Him? 16 Behold, is not their good in their hand? (Still, the counsel of the wicked is far from me.. 17 How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished That their calamity comes on them, That He apportions cramps in His anger? 18 Do they become like crushed straw before the wind, Or like trash that the sweeping whirlwind steals away? 19 Is Eloah secluding payment for his lawlessness to give to his sons? May He repay him that he may know! 20 May his own eyes see his downfall, And may he drink of the fury of Him Who Suffices. 21 For what is his interest in his house after he is gone, When the number of his months have run out? 22 Who shall teach knowledge to El? Since He Himself shall judge the exalted ones? 23 This one dies in his robust plentifulness, His whole state snug and at ease;" 24 His viscera are full of fat, And the marrow of his bones is hearty. 25 Yet this other one dies with a bitter soul, Who has never eaten of good. 26 They lie together in the soil, And worms cover them both. 27 Behold, I know your reckonings And the plans that you wrongly make against me. 28 For you are saying, Where is the house of the tyrant, And where are the tent tabernacles of the wicked? 29 Have you not asked those passing on the way, And do you not admit their evidence, 30 That the evil one is kept back in the day of calamity; In the day of rage they are escorted safely? 31 Who denounces his way to his face, And who repays him for what he himself has done? 32 When he is fetched to the place of tombs, Watch is set alert over the grave-mound. 33 The clods of the watercourse are sweet to him; All humanity draws out after him, And there is no numbering of those before him. 34 How then can you comfort me with vanity, When only offense remains in your replies?