1. |
And Job answereth and saith: -- |
2. |
Hear ye diligently my word, And this is your consolation. |
3. |
Bear with me, and I speak, And after my speaking -- ye may deride. |
4. |
I -- to man `is' my complaint? and if `so', wherefore May not my temper become short? |
5. |
Turn unto me, and be astonished, And put hand to mouth. |
6. |
Yea, if I have remembered, then I have been troubled. And my flesh hath taken fright. |
7. |
Wherefore do the wicked live? They have become old, Yea, they have been mighty in wealth. |
8. |
Their seed is established, Before their face with them, And their offspring before their eyes. |
9. |
Their houses `are' peace without fear, Nor `is' a rod of God upon them. |
10. |
His bullock hath eaten corn, and doth not loath. His cow bringeth forth safely, And doth not miscarry. |
11. |
They send forth as a flock their sucklings, And their children skip, |
12. |
They lift `themselves' up at timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of an organ. |
13. |
They wear out in good their days, And in a moment `to' Sheol go down. |
14. |
And they say to God, `Turn aside from us, And the knowledge of Thy ways We have not desired. |
15. |
What `is' the Mighty One that we serve Him? And what do we profit when we meet with Him?' |
16. |
Lo, not in their hand `is' their good, (The counsel of the wicked Hath been far from me.) |
17. |
How oft is the lamp of the wicked extinguished, And come on them doth their calamity? Pangs He apportioneth in His anger. |
18. |
They are as straw before wind, And as chaff a hurricane hath stolen away, |
19. |
God layeth up for his sons his sorrow, He giveth recompense unto him -- and he knoweth. |
20. |
His own eyes see his destruction, And of the wrath of the Mighty he drinketh. |
21. |
For what `is' his delight in his house after him, And the number of his months cut off? |
22. |
To God doth `one' teach knowledge, And He the high doth judge? |
23. |
This `one' dieth in his perfect strength, Wholly at ease and quiet. |
24. |
His breasts have been full of milk, And marrow his bones doth moisten. |
25. |
And this `one' dieth with a bitter soul, And have not eaten with gladness. |
26. |
Together -- on the dust they lie down, And the worm doth cover them over. |
27. |
Lo, I have known your thoughts, And the devices against me ye do wrongfully. |
28. |
For ye say, `Where `is' the house of the noble? And where the tent -- The tabernacles of the wicked?' |
29. |
Have ye not asked those passing by the way? And their signs do ye not know? |
30. |
That to a day of calamity is the wicked spared. To a day of wrath they are brought. |
31. |
Who doth declare to his face his way? And `for' that which he hath done, Who doth give recompence to him? |
32. |
And he -- to the graves he is brought. And over the heap a watch is kept. |
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. |
34. |
And how do ye comfort me `with' vanity, And in your answers hath been left trespass? |