1 Then Job answered: 2 “Listen to what I say. Let that be your way of comforting me. 3 Be patient while I speak. Then after I have finished speaking, you may make fun of me. 4 “I am not complaining against people. There is a good reason why I am not patient. 5 Look at me and be shocked. Put your hand over your mouth, and stare at me in shock! 6 When I think about what happened to me I feel afraid, and my body shakes! 7 Why do evil people live long lives? Why do they grow old and successful? 8 Evil people watch their children grow with them. Evil people live to see their grandchildren. 9 Their homes are safe and they are not afraid. God doesn’t use a stick to punish evil people. 10 Their bulls never fail to mate. Their cows have baby calves, and the baby calves don’t die at birth. 11 Evil people send their children out to play like lambs. Their children dance around. 12 They sing and dance to the sound of harps and flutes. 13 Evil people enjoy success during their lives. Then they die and go to their grave without suffering. 14 But evil people say to God, 'Leave us alone! We don’t care what you want us to do!’ 15 And the evil people say, 'Who is God All-Powerful? We don’t need to serve him! It won’t help to pray to him!’ 16 “It is true, evil people don’t make their own success. I can’t follow their advice. 17 But, how often does God blow out the light of evil people? How often does trouble come to the evil people? When does God become angry at them and punish them? 18 Does God blow the evil people away, like the wind blows straw, like strong winds blow the grain husks? 19 But you say, 'God punishes a child for his father’s sins.’ No! Let God punish the evil person himself. Then that evil person will know he is being punished for his own sins! 20 Let the sinner see his own punishment. Let him feel the anger of God All-Powerful. 21 When the evil person’s life is finished, and he is dead, he won’t care about the family he leaves behind. 22 “No person can teach knowledge to God. God judges even people in high places. 23 One person dies after a full and successful life. He lived a life completely safe and comfortable. 24 His body was well fed and his bones were still strong. 25 But another person dies after a hard life, with a bitter soul. He never enjoyed anything good. 26 In the end, both of those people will lie together in the dirt. The worms will cover them both. 27 “But, I know what you are thinking, and I know you want to hurt me. 28 You might say: 'Show me a good man’s house. Now, show me where evil people live.’ 29 “Surely you have talked with travelers. Surely you will accept their stories. 30 Evil people are spared when disaster comes. They survive when God shows his anger. 31 Nobody criticizes an evil person to his face for the bad things he did. No person punishes him for the evil he did. 32 When that evil person is carried to the grave, a guard will stand near his grave. 33 So even the soil in the valley will be pleasant for that evil person. And thousands of people will join the march to his grave. 34 “So you can’t comfort me with your empty words. Your answers don’t help at all!”
