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¹ Then Job answered and said: ² "Listen carefully to my speech, And let this be your consolation. ³ Bear with me that I may speak, And after I have spoken, keep mocking. ⁴ "As for me, is my complaint against man? And if it were, why should I not be impatient? ⁵ Look at me and be astonished; Put your hand over your mouth. ⁶ Even when I remember I am terrified, And trembling takes hold of my flesh.

⁷ Why do the wicked live and become old, Yes, become mighty in power? ⁸ Their descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes. ⁹ Their houses are safe from fear, Neither is the rod of God upon them. ¹⁰ Their bull breeds without failure; Their cow calves without miscarriage. ¹¹ They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children dance. ¹² They sing to the tambourine and harp, And rejoice to the sound of the flute. ¹³ They spend their days in wealth,And in a moment go down to the grave. [fn] ¹⁴ Yet they say to God, "Depart from us, For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. ¹⁵ Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?' ¹⁶ Indeed their prosperity is not in their hand; The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁷ "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? ¹⁸ They are like straw before the wind, And like chaff that a storm carries away. ¹⁹ They say, 'God lays up one's [fn] iniquity for his children';Let Him recompense him, that he may know it. ²⁰ Let his eyes see his destruction, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. ²¹ For what does he care about his household after him, When the number of his months is cut in half? ²² "Can anyone teach God knowledge, Since He judges those on high? ²³ One dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and secure; ²⁴ His pails [fn] are full of milk,And the marrow of his bones is moist. ²⁵ Another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, Never having eaten with pleasure. ²⁶ They lie down alike in the dust, And worms cover them.

²⁷ "Look, I know your thoughts, And the schemes with which you would wrong me. ²⁸ For you say,'Where is the house of the prince?And where is the tent, [fn] The dwelling place of the wicked?' ²⁹ Have you not asked those who travel the road? And do you not know their signs? ³⁰ For the wicked are reserved for the day of doom; They shall be brought out on the day of wrath. ³¹ Who condemns his way to his face? And who repays him for what he has done? ³² Yet he shall be brought to the grave, And a vigil kept over the tomb. ³³ The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him; Everyone shall follow him, As countless have gone before him. ³⁴ How then can you comfort me with empty words, Since falsehood remains in your answers?"