Job 21 – NIV & ASCB

New International Version

Job 21:1-34

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!”

Asante Twi Contemporary Bible

Hiob 21:1-34

1Na Hiob buaa sɛ,

2“Montie me nsɛm no yie.

Momma yei nyɛ awerɛkyekyerɛ a mode ma me.

3Monnya ntoboaseɛ mma me ɛberɛ a merekasa,

na sɛ mekasa wie a, monkɔso nni fɛ.

4“Me nwiinwii hyɛ onipa anaa?

Adɛn enti na ɛsɛ sɛ menya ntoboaseɛ?

5Monhwɛ me, na mo ho nnwiri mo;

momfa mo nsa nkata mo ano.

6Sɛ medwene yei ho a, mebɔ hu;

na me ho popo.

7Adɛn enti na amumuyɛfoɔ tena nkwa mu?

Wɔnyini kyɛ na wɔkɔ so di tumi.

8Wɔhunu wɔn mma a atwa wɔn ho ahyia no nkɔsoɔ,

wɔhunu wɔn nananom.

9Ɔhaw nni wɔn afie na ehu nni hɔ;

Onyankopɔn asotwe mma wɔn so.

10Wɔn anantwinini nyɛ akrawa;

na wɔn anantwibereɛ wo a, wɔmpɔn.

11Wɔka wɔn mma bɔ mu te sɛ nnwankuo;

na emu mmotafowa no hurihuri.

12Wɔto nnwom wɔ akasaeɛ ne sankuo so;

na wɔde atɛntɛbɛn nnyegyeeɛ gye wɔn ani.

13Wɔdi yie wɔn nkwanna mu

na wɔkɔ damena mu asomdwoeɛ mu.

14Nanso wɔka kyerɛ Onyankopɔn sɛ, ‘Firi yɛn so!

Yɛmpɛ sɛ yɛhunu wʼakwan.

15Hwan ne otumfoɔ no a ɛsɛ sɛ yɛsom no?

Sɛ yɛbɔ no mpaeɛ a mfasoɔ bɛn na yɛbɛnya?’

16Nanso, wɔn nkɔsoɔ no nni wɔn nsam,

enti metwe me ho firi amumuyɛfoɔ afutuo ho.

17“Nanso mpɛn ahe na wɔdum amumuyɛfoɔ kanea?

Mpɛn ahe na amanehunu ba wɔn so,

deɛ Onyankopɔn firi nʼabufuo mu de ba no?

18Mpɛn ahe na wɔyɛ sɛ ɛserɛ wɔ mframa ano,

te sɛ ntɛtɛ a mframa den bi apra wɔn?

19Wɔka sɛ, ‘Onyankopɔn kora onipa asotwe so de twɛn ne mma.’

Ɛsɛ sɛ ɔtwe ɔnipa no ankasa aso ma ɔhunu.

20Ma wɔn ankasa ani nhunu wɔn sɛeɛ;

ma Otumfoɔ abufuhyeɛ no nka wɔn ani.

21Wɔn abusuafoɔ a wɔagya wɔn akyire no renya hwee

nʼagyapadeɛ nyinaa bɛsɛe.

22“Obi bɛtumi akyerɛ Onyankopɔn nyansa,

wɔ ɛberɛ a ɔbu atitire mpo atɛn?

23Obi wu wɔ ɛberɛ a ɔwɔ ahoɔden;

ne ho tɔ no na nʼaso mu adwo no,

24na ne onipadua yɛ frɔmm,

na ɛhon ahyɛ ne nnompe ma.

25Ɔfoforɔ nso de ɔkra mu yeadie wu,

a wanka asetena pa anhwɛ da.

26Wɔsie wɔn nyinaa wɔ mfuturo korɔ mu,

ma asonson korɔ no ara nuka wɔn.

27“Mahunu mo adwene,

ɛkwan a mopɛ sɛ mobu me fɔ.

28Mopɛ sɛ moka kyerɛ me sɛdeɛ asikafoɔ ne amumuyɛfoɔ,

wɔn bɔne enti, wɔhwere wɔn agyapadeɛ nyinaa.

29Nanso mommisa wɔn a wɔtu kwan;

wɔbɛka akyerɛ mo sɛ

30onipa bɔne nya ne ti didi mu amanehunu da,

na wɔgyaa no ma no dwane abufuhyeɛ da.

31Hwan na ɔtumi kasa nʼanim?

Hwan na ɔtua no deɛ wayɛ so ka?

32Wɔsoa no kɔ damena mu,

na wɔwɛn nʼaboda.

33Bɔnhwa mu dɔteɛ yɛ no dɛ;

nnipa nyinaa di nʼakyi,

na ɛdɔm a wɔntumi nkan wɔn di nʼanim.

34“Enti ɛbɛyɛ dɛn na mode mo nsɛnhunu akyekyere me werɛ?

Mo mmuaeɛ nyɛ hwee sɛ atorɔ!”