1<\/sup>Then Job responded by saying:<\/span> <\/p>\n 2<\/sup>I beseech you to hear my words and to do penance.<\/span> <\/p>\n 3<\/sup>Permit me, and I will speak, and afterwards, if you see fit, you can laugh at my words.<\/span> <\/p>\n 4<\/sup>Is my dispute against man, so that I would have no reason to be discouraged?<\/span> <\/p>\n 5<\/sup>Listen to me and be astonished, and place a finger over your mouth.<\/span> <\/p>\n 6<\/sup>As for me, when I think it over, I am afraid, and trembling convulses my body.<\/span> <\/p>\n 7<\/sup>Why then do the impious live, having been lifted up and strengthened with riches?<\/span> <\/p>\n 8<\/sup>They see their offspring continue before them: a commotion of close relatives and of children’s children in their sight.<\/span> <\/p>\n 9<\/sup>Their houses have been secure and peaceable, and there is no staff of God over them.<\/span> <\/p>\n 10<\/sup>Their cattle have conceived and have not miscarried; their cow has given birth and is not deprived of her newborn.<\/span> <\/p>\n 11<\/sup>Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children jump around playfully.<\/span> <\/p>\n 12<\/sup>They take up the timbrel and the lyre, and they rejoice at the sound of the organ.<\/span> <\/p>\n 13<\/sup>Their days are prolonged in wealth, yet, in an instant, they descend into hell.<\/span> <\/p>\n 14<\/sup>Who has said to God, “Depart from us, for we do not want the knowledge of your ways.<\/span> <\/p>\n 15<\/sup>Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And how is it helpful to us if we pray to him?”<\/span> <\/p>\n 16<\/sup>It is true that their good things are not in their power. May the counsel of the impious be far from me!<\/span> <\/p>\n 17<\/sup>How often will the lamp of the wicked be extinguished, and a deluge overtake them, and how often will he distribute the afflictions of his wrath?<\/span> <\/p>\n 18<\/sup>They will be like chaff before the face of the wind, and like ashes that the whirlwind scatters.<\/span> <\/p>\n 19<\/sup>God will preserve the grief of the father for his sons, and, when he repays, then he will understand.<\/span> <\/p>\n 20<\/sup>His eyes will see his own destruction, and he will drink from the wrath of the Almighty.<\/span> <\/p>\n 21<\/sup>For what does he care what happens to his house after him, or if the number of its months are reduced by half?<\/span> <\/p>\n 22<\/sup>Can anyone teach holy knowledge to God, who judges the exalted?<\/span> <\/p>\n 23<\/sup>This one dies strong and healthy, rich and happy.<\/span> <\/p>\n 24<\/sup>His gut is full of fat and his bones are moistened with marrow.<\/span> <\/p>\n 25<\/sup>In truth, another dies in bitterness of soul, without any resources.<\/span> <\/p>\n 26<\/sup>And yet they will sleep together in the dust, and worms will cover them.<\/span> <\/p>\n 27<\/sup>Surely, I know your thoughts and your sinful judgments against me.<\/span> <\/p>\n 28<\/sup>For you say, “Where is the house of the ruler, and where are the tabernacles of the impious?”<\/span> <\/p>\n 29<\/sup>Ask any passerby whom you wish, and you will realize that he understands these same things:<\/span> <\/p>\n 30<\/sup>that the evil-doer is reserved for the day of destruction, and he will be led to the day of wrath.<\/span> <\/p>\n 31<\/sup>Who will reprove his way to his face, and who will repay him for what he has done?<\/span> <\/p>\n 32<\/sup>He will be led to the tomb, and he will remain awake in the chaos of the dead.<\/span> <\/p>\n 33<\/sup>He has been found acceptable to the banks of the River of Lamentation, and he will draw any man towards him, and there are countless before him.<\/span> <\/p>\n 34<\/sup>Therefore, how long will you console me in vain, when your answer is shown to be repugnant to truth?<\/span> <\/p>\n