1. Then Job answered and said,
2. “Listen carefully to my words, and let this be your consolation.
3. Bear with me, and I myself will speak; then after my speaking you can mock.
4. As for me, is my complaint for human beings? And if so, why cannot I be impatient?
5. Turn to me and be appalled, and place your hand on your mouth.
6. And when I think of it, I am horrified, and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7. “Why do the wicked live, grow old, even grow mighty in power?
8. With them their offspring are established before them, and their descendants before their eyes.
9. Their houses are safe without fear, and the rod of God is not upon them.
10. His bull breeds and does not fail; his cow calves and does not miscarry.
11. They send out their little ones like the flock, and their children dance around.
12. They sing to the tambourine and lyre, and they rejoice to the sound of the long flute.
13. They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.