| King James Bible | NET Bible |
| 1But Job answered and said, | 1Then Job answered: |
| 2Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations. | 2"Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you offer me. |
| 3Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on. | 3Bear with me and I will speak, and after I have spoken you may mock. |
| 4As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled? | 4Is my complaint against a man? If so, why should I not be impatient? |
| 5Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth. | 5Look at me and be appalled; put your hands over your mouths. |
| 6Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh. | 6For, when I think about this, I am terrified and my body feels a shudder. |
| 7Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? | 7"Why do the wicked go on living, grow old, even increase in power? |
| 8Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. | 8Their children are firmly established in their presence, their offspring before their eyes. |
| 9Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. | 9Their houses are safe and without fear; and no rod of punishment from God is upon them. |
| 10Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. | 10Their bulls breed without fail; their cows calve and do not miscarry. |
| 11They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. | 11They allow their children to run like a flock; their little ones dance about. |
| 12They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. | 12They sing to the accompaniment of tambourine and harp, and make merry to the sound of the flute. |
| 13They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. | 13They live out their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. |
| 14Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. | 14So they say to God, 'Turn away from us! We do not want to know your ways. |
| 15What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him? | 15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain if we were to pray to him?' |
| 16Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me. | 16But their prosperity is not their own doing. The counsel of the wicked is far from me! |
| 17How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger. | 17"How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished? How often does their misfortune come upon them? How often does God apportion pain to them in his anger? |
| 18They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away. | 18How often are they like straw before the wind, and like chaff swept away by a whirlwind? |
| 19God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it. | 19You may say, 'God stores up a man's punishment for his children!' Instead let him repay the man himself so that he may know it! |
| 20His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty. | 20Let his own eyes see his destruction; let him drink of the anger of the Almighty. |
| 21For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst? | 21For what is his interest in his home after his death, when the number of his months has been broken off? |
| 22Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high. | 22Can anyone teach God knowledge, since he judges those that are on high? |
| 23One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. | 23"One man dies in his full vigor, completely secure and prosperous, |
| 24His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. | 24his body well nourished, and the marrow of his bones moist. |
| 25And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. | 25And another man dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted anything good. |
| 26They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them. | 26Together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover over them both. |
| 27Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me. | 27"Yes, I know what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me. |
| 28For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked? | 28For you say, 'Where now is the nobleman's house, and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?' |
| 29Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens, | 29Have you never questioned those who travel the roads? Do you not recognize their accounts-- |
| 30That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. | 30that the evil man is spared from the day of his misfortune, that he is delivered from the day of God's wrath? |
| 31Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? | 31No one denounces his conduct to his face; no one repays him for what he has done. |
| 32Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb. | 32And when he is carried to the tombs, and watch is kept over the funeral mound, |
| 33The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. | 33The clods of the torrent valley are sweet to him; behind him everybody follows in procession, and before him goes a countless throng. |
| 34How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood? | 34So how can you console me with your futile words? Nothing is left of your answers but deception!" |
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