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The Book of Job

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- Chapter 21 -

Job's speech about the wicked

1
Then Job responded by saying:
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I beseech you to hear my words and to do penance.
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Permit me, and I will speak, and afterwards, if you see fit, you can laugh at my words.
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Is my dispute against man, so that I would have no reason to be discouraged?
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Listen to me and be astonished, and place a finger over your mouth.
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As for me, when I think it over, I am afraid, and trembling convulses my body.
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Why then do the impious live, having been lifted up and strengthened with riches?
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They see their offspring continue before them: a commotion of close relatives and of children’s children in their sight.
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Their houses have been secure and peaceable, and there is no staff of God over them.(a)
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Their cattle have conceived and have not miscarried; their cow has given birth and is not deprived of her newborn.
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Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children jump around playfully.
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They take up the timbrel and the lyre, and they rejoice at the sound of the organ.
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Their days are prolonged in wealth, yet, in an instant, they descend into hell.
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Who has said to God, “Depart from us, for we do not want the knowledge of your ways.
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Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And how is it helpful to us if we pray to him?”
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It is true that their good things are not in their power. May the counsel of the impious be far from me!
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How often will the lamp of the wicked be extinguished, and a deluge overtake them, and how often will he distribute the afflictions of his wrath?
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They will be like chaff before the face of the wind, and like ashes that the whirlwind scatters.
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God will preserve the grief of the father for his sons, and, when he repays, then he will understand.(b)
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His eyes will see his own destruction, and he will drink from the wrath of the Almighty.
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For what does he care what happens to his house after him, or if the number of its months are reduced by half?(c)
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Can anyone teach holy knowledge to God, who judges the exalted?
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This one dies strong and healthy, rich and happy.
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His gut is full of fat and his bones are moistened with marrow.
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In truth, another dies in bitterness of soul, without any resources.
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And yet they will sleep together in the dust, and worms will cover them.
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Surely, I know your thoughts and your sinful judgments against me.
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For you say, “Where is the house of the ruler, and where are the tabernacles of the impious?”
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Ask any passerby whom you wish, and you will realize that he understands these same things:
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that the evil-doer is reserved for the day of destruction, and he will be led to the day of wrath.
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Who will reprove his way to his face, and who will repay him for what he has done?
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He will be led to the tomb, and he will remain awake in the chaos of the dead.(d)
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He has been found acceptable to the banks of the River of Lamentation, and he will draw any man towards him, and there are countless before him.(e) (f)
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Therefore, how long will you console me in vain, when your answer is shown to be repugnant to truth?

Footnotes

(a)21:9 The ‘virga Dei super illos’ could refer to the staff of God in the sense of God protecting people, or it could refer to a rod of correction. So, the text has two possible meanings, which affect the translation. It could be translated as: ‘yet there is not staff of God over them.’ In other words, the impious prosper without God’s help. Or, it could be translated as: ‘and there is no rod of God over them,’ meaning that there is no rod of punishment from God hanging over their head.(Conte)
(b)21:19 The word ‘reddiderit’ can also mean ‘returns.’ When Christ returns, then they will all understand.(Conte)
(c)21:21 The word ‘eius’ in the second part of this verse refers to ‘domo’ (house), not to the individual (an impious person). This is clear because ‘pertinet’ can refer to something that ‘happens,’ can also refer to lengths of time or what happens over a length of time.(Conte)
(d)21:32 The phrase ‘in congerie mortuorum vigilabit’ could also be translated as ‘he will watch (or wait) in the congregation (or pile or heap) of the dead.’(Conte)
(e)21:33 Cocyti is the name of one of the five rivers of Hades; the name means ‘River of Lamentation.’(Conte)
(f)21:33 Acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus:The Hebrew word, which St. Jerome has here rendered by the name Cocytus, (which the poets represent as a river in hell,) signifies a valley or a torrent: and in this place, is taken for the low region of death and hell: which willingly, as it were, receives the wicked at their death: who are ushered in by innumerable others that have gone before them; and are followed by multitudes above number.(Challoner)

Job's speech about the wicked

1
Then Job answered,
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“Listen diligently to my speech. Let this be your consolation.
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Allow me, and I also will speak. After I have spoken, mock on.
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As for me, is my complaint to man? Why shouldn’t I be impatient?
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Look at me, and be astonished. Lay your hand on your mouth.
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When I remember, I am troubled. Horror takes hold of my flesh.
7
“Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, and grow mighty in power?
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Their child is established with them in their sight, their offspring before their eyes.
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Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
10
Their bulls breed without fail. Their cows calve, and don’t miscarry.
11
They send out their little ones like a flock. Their children dance.
12
They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
13
They spend their days in prosperity. In an instant they go down to Sheol.(a)
14
They tell God, ‘Depart from us, for we don’t want to know about your ways.
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What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?’
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Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
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“How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out, that their calamity comes on them, that God distributes sorrows in his anger?
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How often is it that they are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away?
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You say, ‘God lays up his iniquity for his children.’ Let him recompense it to himself, that he may know it.
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Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
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For what does he care for his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?
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“Shall any teach God knowledge, since he judges those who are high?
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One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
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His pails are full of milk. The marrow of his bones is moistened.
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Another dies in bitterness of soul, and never tastes of good.
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They lie down alike in the dust. The worm covers them.
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“Behold, I know your thoughts, the plans with which you would wrong me.
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For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’
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Haven’t you asked wayfaring men? Don’t you know their evidences,
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that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity, that they are led out to the day of wrath?
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Who will declare his way to his face? Who will repay him what he has done?
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Yet he will be borne to the grave. Men will keep watch over the tomb.
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The clods of the valley will be sweet to him. All men will draw after him, as there were innumerable before him.
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So how can you comfort me with nonsense, because in your answers there remains only falsehood?”

Footnotes

(a)21:13 Sheol is the place of the dead.
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