1: Then Job answered and said,
2: Hear diligently my speech; And let this be your consolations.
3: Suffer me, and I also will speak; And after that I have spoken, mock on.
4: As for me, is my complaint to man? And why should I not be impatient?
5: Mark me, and be astonished, And lay your hand upon your mouth.
6: Even when I remember I am troubled, And horror taketh hold on my flesh.
7: Wherefore do the wicked live, Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?
8: Their seed is 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 gendereth, and faileth not; Their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
11: They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children dance.
12: They sing to the timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
13: They spend their days in prosperity, And in a moment they go down to Sheol.
14: And they say unto God, Depart from us; For we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
15: What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
16: Lo, their prosperity is not in their hand: The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17: How oft is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity cometh upon them? That [God] distributeth sorrows in his anger?
18: That they are as stubble before the wind, And as chaff that the storm carrieth away?
19: [Ye say], God layeth up his iniquity for his children. Let him recompense it unto himself, that he may know it:
20: Let his own eyes see his destruction, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21: For what careth he for his house after him, When the number of his months is cut off?
22: Shall any teach God knowledge, Seeing he judgeth those that are high?
23: One dieth in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and quiet:
24: His pails are full of milk, And the marrow of his bones is moistened.
25: And another dieth in bitterness of soul, And never tasteth of good.
26: They lie down alike in the dust, And the worm covereth them.
27: Behold, I know your thoughts, And the devices wherewith ye would wrong me.
28: For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? And where is the tent wherein the wicked dwelt?
29: Have ye not asked wayfaring men? And do ye not know their evidences,
30: That the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity? That they are led forth to the day of wrath?
31: Who shall declare his way to his face? And who shall repay him what he hath done?
32: Yet shall he be borne to the grave, And men shall keep watch over the tomb.
33: The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, And all men shall draw after him, As there were innumerable before him.
34: How then comfort ye me in vain, Seeing in your answers there remaineth [only] falsehood?