Berean Study Bible

English Standard Version

1Then Job answered:

1Then Job answered and said:

2“Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me.

2“Keep listening to my words, and let this be your comfort.

3Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.

3Bear with me, and I will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.

4Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?

4As for me, is my complaint against man? Why should I not be impatient?

5Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.

5Look at me and be appalled, and lay your hand over your mouth.

6When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.

6When I remember, I am dismayed, and shuddering seizes my flesh.

7Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?

7Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power?

8Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.

8Their offspring are established in their presence, and their descendants before their eyes.

9Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.

9Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them.

10Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.

10Their bull breeds without fail; their cow calves and does not miscarry.

11They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,

11They send out their little boys like a flock, and their children dance.

12singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute.

12They sing to the tambourine and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.

13They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.

13They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.

14Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.

14They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.

15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

15What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’

16Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

16Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

17How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?

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?

18Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?

18That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away?

19It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.

19You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’ Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it.

20Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.

20Let their own eyes see their destruction, and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

21For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out?

21For what do they care for their houses after them, when the number of their months is cut off?

22Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high?

22Will any teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those who are on high?

23One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease.

23One dies in his full vigor, being wholly at ease and secure,

24His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow.

24his pails full of milk and the marrow of his bones moist.

25Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity.

25Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of prosperity.

26But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.

26They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them.

27Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.

27“Behold, I know your thoughts and your schemes to wrong me.

28For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’

28For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’

29Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports?

29Have you not asked those who travel the roads, and do you not accept their testimony

30Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.

30that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity, that he is rescued in the day of wrath?

31Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done?

31Who declares his way to his face, and who repays him for what he has done?

32He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.

32When he is carried to the grave, watch is kept over his tomb.

33The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.

33The clods of the valley are sweet to him; all mankind follows after him, and those who go before him are innumerable.

34So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”

34How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

The Berean Bible (Berean Study Bible (BSB) © 2016, 2018 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.