109 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
109 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
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# Chapter 21
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1. Then Job answered and said:
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2. "Listen carefully to my speech,
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And let this be your consolation.
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3. Bear with me that I may speak,
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And after I have spoken, keep mocking.
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4. "As for me, _is_ my complaint against man?
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And if _it were,_ why should I not be impatient?
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5. Look at me and be astonished;
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Put _your_ hand over _your_ mouth.
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6. Even when I remember I am terrified,
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And trembling takes hold of my flesh.
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7. Why do the wicked live _and_ become old,
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Yes, become mighty in power?
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8. Their descendants are established with them in their sight,
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And their offspring before their eyes.
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9. Their houses _are_ safe from fear,
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Neither _is_ the rod of God upon them.
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10. Their bull breeds without failure;
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Their cow calves without miscarriage.
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11. They send forth their little ones like a flock,
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And their children dance.
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12. They sing to the tambourine and harp,
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And rejoice to the sound of the flute.
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13. They spend their days in wealth,
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And in a moment go down to the grave.
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14. Yet they say to God, 'Depart from us,
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For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.
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15. Who _is_ the Almighty, that we should serve Him?
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And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?'
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16. Indeed their prosperity _is_ not in their hand;
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The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
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17. "How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
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_How often_ does their destruction come upon them,
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The sorrows _God_ distributes in His anger?
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18. They are like straw before the wind,
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And like chaff that a storm carries away.
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19. _They say,_ 'God lays up one's iniquity for his children';
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Let Him recompense him, that he may know _it._
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20. Let his eyes see his destruction,
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And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
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21. For what does he care about his household after him,
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When the number of his months is cut in half?
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22. "Can _anyone_ teach God knowledge,
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Since He judges those on high?
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23. One dies in his full strength,
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Being wholly at ease and secure;
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24. His pails are full of milk,
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And the marrow of his bones is moist.
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25. Another man dies in the bitterness of his soul,
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Never having eaten with pleasure.
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26. They lie down alike in the dust,
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And worms cover them.
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27. "Look, I know your thoughts,
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And the schemes _with which_ you would wrong me.
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28. For you say,
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'Where _is_ the house of the prince?
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And where _is_ the tent,
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The dwelling place of the wicked?'
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29. Have you not asked those who travel the road?
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And do you not know their signs?
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30. For the wicked are reserved for the day of doom;
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They shall be brought out on the day of wrath.
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31. Who condemns his way to his face?
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And who repays him _for what_ he has done?
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32. Yet he shall be brought to the grave,
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And a vigil kept over the tomb.
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33. The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him;
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Everyone shall follow him,
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As countless _have gone_ before him.
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34. How then can you comfort me with empty words,
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Since falsehood remains in your answers?"
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