Old Testament

New Testament

Job 21:5-23 New Century Version (NCV)

5. Look at me and be shocked;put your hand over your mouth in shock.

6. When I think about this, I am terribly afraidand my body shakes.

7. Why do evil people live a long time?They grow old and become more powerful.

8. They see their children around them;they watch them grow up.

9. Their homes are safe and without fear;God does not punish them.

10. Their bulls never fail to mate;their cows have healthy calves.

11. They send out their children like a flock;their little ones dance about.

12. They sing to the music of tambourines and harps,and the sound of the flute makes them happy.

13. Evil people enjoy successful livesand then go peacefully to the grave.

14. They say to God, ‘Leave us alone!We don’t want to know your ways.

15. Who is the Almighty that we should serve him?What would we gain by praying to him?’

16. The success of the wicked is not their own doing.Their way of thinking is different from mine.

17. Yet how often are the lamps of evil people turned off?How often does trouble come to them?How often do they suffer God’s angry punishment?

18. How often are they like straw in the windor like chaff that is blown away by a storm?

19. It is said, ‘God saves up a person’s punishment for his children.’But God should punish the wicked themselves so they will know it.

20. Their eyes should see their own destruction,and they should suffer the anger of the Almighty.

21. They do not care about the families they leave behindwhen their lives have come to an end.

22. “No one can teach knowledge to God;he is the one who judges even the most important people.

23. One person dies while he still has all his strength,feeling completely safe and comfortable.

Read complete chapter Job 21