Job 21:1-16

1Then Job responded,2“Listen carefully to my speech, And let this be your way of consolation.3Bear with me that I may speak; Then after I have spoken, you may 1mock me.4As for me, is 2my complaint 3to a mortal? Or 4why should 5I not be impatient?5Look at me, and be astonished, And 6put your hand over your mouth.6Even when I remember, I am disturbed, And 7horror takes hold of my flesh.7Why 8do the wicked still live, Grow old, and also become very 910powerful?8Their 1112descendants endure with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes,9Their houses 13are safe from fear, And the 14rod of God is not on them.10His ox mates 15without fail; His cow calves and does not miscarry.11They send out their boys like the flock, And their children dance.12They 16sing with the tambourine and harp, And rejoice at the sound of the flute.13They 17spend their days in prosperity, And 18suddenly they go down to 19Sheol.14Yet they say to God, ‘20Go away from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.1521Who is 22the Almighty, that we should serve Him, And 23what would we gain if we plead with Him?’16Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand; The 24advice of the wicked is far from me.