21:1  And Job answereth and saith: --

21:2  Hear ye diligently my word, And this is your consolation.

21:3  Bear with me, and I speak, And after my speaking -- ye may deride.

21:4  I -- to man `is' my complaint? and if `so', wherefore May not my temper become short?

21:5  Turn unto me, and be astonished, And put hand to mouth.

21:6  Yea, if I have remembered, then I have been troubled. And my flesh hath taken fright.

21:7  Wherefore do the wicked live? They have become old, Yea, they have been mighty in wealth.

21:8  Their seed is established, Before their face with them, And their offspring before their eyes.

21:9  Their houses `are' peace without fear, Nor `is' a rod of God upon them.

21:10  His bullock hath eaten corn, and doth not loath. His cow bringeth forth safely, And doth not miscarry.

21:11  They send forth as a flock their sucklings, And their children skip,

21:12  They lift `themselves' up at timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of an organ.

21:13  They wear out in good their days, And in a moment `to' Sheol go down.

21:14  And they say to God, `Turn aside from us, And the knowledge of Thy ways We have not desired.

21:15  What `is' the Mighty One that we serve Him? And what do we profit when we meet with Him?'

21:16  Lo, not in their hand `is' their good, (The counsel of the wicked Hath been far from me.)

21:17  How oft is the lamp of the wicked extinguished, And come on them doth their calamity? Pangs He apportioneth in His anger.

21:18  They are as straw before wind, And as chaff a hurricane hath stolen away,

21:19  God layeth up for his sons his sorrow, He giveth recompense unto him -- and he knoweth.

21:20  His own eyes see his destruction, And of the wrath of the Mighty he drinketh.

21:21  For what `is' his delight in his house after him, And the number of his months cut off?

21:22  To God doth `one' teach knowledge, And He the high doth judge?

21:23  This `one' dieth in his perfect strength, Wholly at ease and quiet.

21:24  His breasts have been full of milk, And marrow his bones doth moisten.

21:25  And this `one' dieth with a bitter soul, And have not eaten with gladness.

21:26  Together -- on the dust they lie down, And the worm doth cover them over.

21:27  Lo, I have known your thoughts, And the devices against me ye do wrongfully.

21:28  For ye say, `Where `is' the house of the noble? And where the tent -- The tabernacles of the wicked?'

21:29  Have ye not asked those passing by the way? And their signs do ye not know?

21:30  That to a day of calamity is the wicked spared. To a day of wrath they are brought.

21:31  Who doth declare to his face his way? And `for' that which he hath done, Who doth give recompence to him?

21:32  And he -- to the graves he is brought. And over the heap a watch is kept.

21:33  Sweet to him have been the clods of the valley, And after him every man he draweth, And before him there is no numbering.

21:34  And how do ye comfort me `with' vanity, And in your answers hath been left trespass?