Daily Bible Reading

Job Replies: The Wicked Do Prosper

1Then Job answered and said:

2“Keep listening to my words,

and let this be your comfort.

3Bear with me, and I will speak,

and after I have spoken, mock on.

4As for me, is my complaint against man?

Why should I not be impatient?

5Look at me and be appalled,

and lay your hand over your mouth.

6When I remember, I am dismayed,

and shuddering seizes my flesh.

7Why do the wicked live,

reach old age, and grow mighty in power?

8Their offspring are established in their presence,

and their descendants before their eyes.

9Their houses are safe from fear,

and no rod of God is upon them.

10Their bull breeds without fail;

their cow calves and does not miscarry.

11They send out their little boys like a flock,

and their children dance.

12They sing to the tambourine and the lyre

and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.

13They spend their days in prosperity,

and in peace they go down to Sheol.

14They say to God, ‘Depart from us!

We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.

15What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?

And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’

16Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?

The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

17“How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out?

That their calamity comes upon them?

That God distributes pains in his anger?

18That they are like straw before the wind,

and like chaff that the storm carries away?

19You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’

Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it.

20Let their own eyes see their destruction,

and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

21For what do they care for their houses after them,

when the number of their months is cut off?

22Will any teach God knowledge,

seeing that he judges those who are on high?

23One dies in his full vigor,

being wholly at ease and secure,

24his pails full of milk

and the marrow of his bones moist.

25Another dies in bitterness of soul,

never having tasted of prosperity.

26They lie down alike in the dust,

and the worms cover them.

27“Behold, I know your thoughts

and your schemes to wrong me.

28For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?

Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’

29Have you not asked those who travel the roads,

and do you not accept their testimony

30that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity,

that he is rescued in the day of wrath?

31Who declares his way to his face,

and who repays him for what he has done?

32When he is carried to the grave,

watch is kept over his tomb.

33The clods of the valley are sweet to him;

all mankind follows after him,

and those who go before him are innumerable.

34How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?

There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

Job

1Then Job replied:

2“Listen carefully to my words;

let this be the consolation you give me.

3Bear with me while I speak,

and after I have spoken, mock on.

4“Is my complaint directed to a human being?

Why should I not be impatient?

5Look at me and be appalled;

clap your hand over your mouth.

6When I think about this, I am terrified;

trembling seizes my body.

7Why do the wicked live on,

growing old and increasing in power?

8They see their children established around them,

their offspring before their eyes.

9Their homes are safe and free from fear;

the rod of God is not on them.

10Their bulls never fail to breed;

their cows calve and do not miscarry.

11They send forth their children as a flock;

their little ones dance about.

12They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;

they make merry to the sound of the pipe.

13They spend their years in prosperity

and go down to the grave in peace.

14Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!

We have no desire to know your ways.

15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?

What would we gain by praying to him?’

16But their prosperity is not in their own hands,

so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

17“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?

18How often are they like straw before the wind,

like chaff swept away by a gale?

19It 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!

20Let their own eyes see their destruction;

let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.

21For what do they care about the families they leave behind

when their allotted months come to an end?

22“Can anyone teach knowledge to God,

since he judges even the highest?

23One person dies in full vigor,

completely secure and at ease,

24well nourished in body,

bones rich with marrow.

25Another dies in bitterness of soul,

never having enjoyed anything good.

26Side by side they lie in the dust,

and worms cover them both.

27“I know full well what you are thinking,

the schemes by which you would wrong me.

28You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,

the tents where the wicked lived?’

29Have you never questioned those who travel?

Have you paid no regard to their accounts—

30that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,

that they are delivered from the day of wrath?

31Who denounces their conduct to their face?

Who repays them for what they have done?

32They are carried to the grave,

and watch is kept over their tombs.

33The soil in the valley is sweet to them;

everyone follows after them,

and a countless throng goes before them.

34“So how can you console me with your nonsense?

Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”