Job 21 – NIV & CCBT

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!”

Chinese Contemporary Bible 2023 (Traditional)

約伯記 21:1-34

約伯的回答

1約伯回答說:

2「你們仔細聽我說,

便是給我的慰藉。

3請容忍我把話說完,

之後任憑你們嘲笑。

4我豈是向人抱怨?

我有理由不耐煩。

5你們看到我會大吃一驚,

嚇得用手掩口。

6我一想到自己,就心驚膽戰,

渾身發抖。

7為何惡人活著,得享長壽,

勢力強大?

8他們的兒孫圍繞膝前,

他們得見後代茁壯成長。

9他們家中平安無懼,

他們不被上帝杖打。

10他們的公牛繁殖力強,

他們的母牛從不掉胎。

11他們讓孩童像羊群一樣走到戶外,

盡情地歡跳。

12他們伴著鈴鼓和豎琴歌唱,

在笛聲中歡喜不已。

13他們一生幸福,

安然下到陰間。

14他們對上帝說,『離開我們,

我們不想學習你的道。

15全能者是誰,竟要我們事奉祂?

向祂禱告有何益處?』

16看啊,他們的幸福不在他們手中;

因此,我決不苟同他們的謀劃。

17「惡人的燈何曾熄滅?

災難何曾臨到他們?

上帝何曾發怒使他們受苦?

18他們何曾像風中的碎稭,

像被暴風捲去的糠秕?

19你們說上帝會把懲罰留給他們的兒女,

我認為不如報應在他們本人身上,

讓他們親自領教。

20願他們親眼看見自己滅亡。

願他們喝下全能者的烈怒。

21因為他們的歲月一旦度盡,

又怎會關心身後的家人?

22「上帝既審判身居高位者,

誰還能傳授知識給祂?

23有人至死仍充滿活力,

盡享平靖安逸。

24他營養充足,

骨骼健壯。

25有人至死心中苦痛,

從未嘗過幸福的滋味。

26二者都埋入塵土,

被蛆蟲覆蓋。

27我知道你們的想法,

並那些冤枉我的詭計。

28你們問,『權貴的房子如今何在?

惡人住的帳篷今在何方?』

29難道你們沒有問過旅客,

不接受他們的說法?

30就是惡人在災難之日倖存,

在上帝發怒之日得以逃脫。

31誰會當面斥責他們的惡行,

因其所作所為而報應他們?

32他們被抬入墳墓後,

還有人看守墓地。

33他們在谷中的沃土安息,

送葬的人前擁後隨,不計其數。

34你們的空談怎能安慰我?

你們的回答純屬荒謬。」