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?
