Job
1Then Job replied:
2“Listen carefully to my words;
let this be the consolation you give me.
3Bear with me while I speak,
and after I have spoken, mock on.
4“Is my complaint directed to a human being?
Why should I not be impatient?
5Look at me and be appalled;
clap your hand over your mouth.
6When I think about this, I am terrified;
trembling seizes my body.
7Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power?
8They see their children established around them,
their offspring before their eyes.
9Their homes are safe and free from fear;
the rod of God is not on them.
10Their bulls never fail to breed;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11They send forth their children as a flock;
their little ones dance about.
12They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;
they make merry to the sound of the pipe.
13They spend their years in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.21:13 Or in an instant
14Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
We have no desire to know your ways.
15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain by praying to him?’
16But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
17“Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
How often does calamity come upon them,
the fate God allots in his anger?
18How often are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff swept away by a gale?
19It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’
Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!
20Let their own eyes see their destruction;
let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.
21For what do they care about the families they leave behind
when their allotted months come to an end?
22“Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
since he judges even the highest?
23One person dies in full vigor,
completely secure and at ease,
24well nourished in body,21:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
bones rich with marrow.
25Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having enjoyed anything good.
26Side by side they lie in the dust,
and worms cover them both.
27“I know full well what you are thinking,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,
the tents where the wicked lived?’
29Have you never questioned those who travel?
Have you paid no regard to their accounts—
30that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,
that they are delivered from21:30 Or wicked are reserved for the day of calamity, / that they are brought forth to the day of wrath?
31Who denounces their conduct to their face?
Who repays them for what they have done?
32They are carried to the grave,
and watch is kept over their tombs.
33The soil in the valley is sweet to them;
everyone follows after them,
and a countless throng goes21:33 Or them, / as a countless throng went before them.
34“So how can you console me with your nonsense?
Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”
1Na Hiob buae se,
2Muntie me nsɛm no yiye.
Momma eyi nyɛ awerɛkyekye a mode ma me.
3Munnya ntoboase mma me bere a merekasa,
na sɛ mekasa wie a, monkɔ so nni fɛw.
4“Minwiinwii hyɛ onipa ana?
Adɛn nti na ɛsɛ sɛ minya ntoboase?
5Monhwɛ me, na mo ho nnwiriw mo;
momfa mo nsa nkata mo ano.
6Sɛ midwen eyi ho a, mebɔ hu;
na me ho popo.
7Adɛn nti na amumɔyɛfo tena nkwa mu?
Wonyin kyɛ na wɔkɔ so di tumi.
8Wohu wɔn mma a atwa wɔn ho ahyia no nkɔso,
wohu wɔn nenanom.
9Ɔhaw nni wɔn afi mu, na ehu nni hɔ;
Onyankopɔn asotwe mma wɔn so.
10Wɔn anantwinini nnyɛ asaadwe;
na wɔn anantwibere nwo a wɔmpɔn.
11Wɔka wɔn mma bɔ mu te sɛ nguankuw;
na emu mmotafowa no huruhuruw.
12Wɔto nnwom wɔ akasae ne sanku so;
na wɔde atɛntɛbɛn nnyigyei gye wɔn ani.
13Wodi yiye wɔn nkwanna mu
na wɔkɔ ɔdae mu asomdwoe mu.
14Nanso wɔka kyerɛ Onyankopɔn se, ‘Fi yɛn so!
Yɛmpɛ sɛ yehu wʼakwan.
15Hena ne otumfo no a ɛsɛ sɛ yɛsom no?
Sɛ yɛbɔ no mpae a mfaso bɛn na yebenya?’
16Nanso wɔn nkɔso no nni wɔn nsam,
enti metwe me ho fi amumɔyɛfo afotu ho.
17“Nanso mpɛn ahe na wodum amumɔyɛfo kanea?
Mpɛn ahe na amanehunu ba wɔn so,
nea Onyankopɔn fi nʼabufuw mu de ba no?
18Mpɛn ahe na wɔyɛ sɛ sare wɔ mframa ano,
te sɛ ntɛtɛ a mframaden bi apra wɔn?
19Wɔka se, ‘Onyankopɔn kora onipa asotwe so de twɛn ne mma.’
Ɛsɛ sɛ ɔtwe onipa no ankasa aso ma ohu.
20Ma ɔno ankasa ani nhu ne sɛe;
ma Otumfo abufuwhyew no nka nʼani.
21Dɛn na ɛfa wɔn ho fa wɔn abusuafo a woagyaw wɔn akyi no ho
bere a asram a wɔatwa ama no aba awiei no?
22“Obi betumi akyerɛ Onyankopɔn nyansa,
wɔ bere a obu atitiriw mpo atɛn?
23Obi wu wɔ bere a ɔwɔ ahoɔden
ne ho tɔ no na nʼaso mu adwo no,
24na ne nipadua ayɛ frɔmfrɔm,
na hon ahyɛ ne nnompe ma.
25Ɔfoforo nso de ɔkra mu yawdi wu,
a wanka asetena pa anhwɛ da.
26Wosie wɔn nyinaa wɔ mfutuma koro mu,
ma asunson nnunu wɔn nyinaa.
27“Mahu mo adwene,
ɔkwan a mobɛfa so afom me.
28Moka se, ‘Onipa kɛse no fi wɔ he,
ntamadan a omumɔyɛfo no tenaa mu no?’
29So mummmisaa wɔn a wotu kwan no asɛm da?
Wɔn amanneɛbɔ mu nsɛm ho nhiaa mo
30sɛ onipa bɔne nya ne ti didi mu amanehunu da,
na wogye wɔn abufuwhyew da no ana?
31Hena na ɔde ne suban si nʼanim?
Hena na otua no nea wayɛ so ka?
32Wɔsoa no kɔ ɔda mu,
na wɔwɛn nʼaboda.
33Obon mu dɔte yɛ no dɛ;
nnipa nyinaa di nʼakyi,
na dɔm a wontumi nkan wɔn di nʼanim.
34“Enti ɛbɛyɛ dɛn na mode mo nsɛnhunu bɛkyekye me werɛ?
Mo mmuae nyɛ hwee sɛ atoro!”
