Job's speech about the wicked
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And Job answers and says:
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“Hear my word diligently, || And this is your consolation.
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Bear with me, and I speak, || And after my speaking—you may deride.
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[Is] my complaint [against] man? And if [so], why may my temper not become short?
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Turn to me, and be astonished, || And put hand to mouth.
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Indeed, if I have remembered, then I have been troubled. And my flesh has taken fright.
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Why do the wicked live? They have become old, || Indeed, they have been mighty in wealth.
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Their seed is established, || Before their face with them, || And their offspring before their eyes.
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Their houses [are] peace without fear, || Nor [is] a rod of God on them.
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His bullock breeds without fail. His cow brings forth safely, and does not miscarry.
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They send forth their sucklings as a flock, || And their children skip,
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They lift [themselves] up at timbrel and harp, || And rejoice at the sound of a pipe.
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They wear out their days in good, || And in a moment go down [to] Sheol.
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And they say to God, Turn aside from us, || And the knowledge of Your ways || We have not desired.
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What [is] the Mighty One that we serve Him? And what do we profit when we meet with Him?
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Behold, their good [is] not in their hand || (The counsel of the wicked || Has been far from me).
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How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished, || And their calamity comes on them? He apportions pangs in His anger.
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They are as straw before wind, || And as chaff a windstorm has stolen away,
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God lays up for his sons his sorrow, || He gives repayment to him—and he knows.
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His own eyes see his destruction, || And he drinks of the wrath of the Mighty.
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For what [is] his delight in his house after him, || And the number of his months cut off?
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Does [one] teach knowledge to God, || Since He judges [those] on high?
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This [one] dies in his perfect strength, || Wholly at ease and quiet.
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His breasts have been full of milk, || And marrow moistens his bones.
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And this [one] dies with a bitter soul, || And has not eaten with gladness.
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Together they lie down on the dust, || And the worm covers them over.
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Behold, I have known your thoughts, || And the schemes against me you do wrongfully.
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For you say, Where [is] the house of the noble? And where the tent—the dwelling places of the wicked?
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Have you not asked those passing by the way? And do you not know their signs?
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That the wicked is spared to a day of calamity. They are brought to a day of wrath.
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Who declares his way to his face? And [for] that which he has done, || Who gives repayment to him?
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And he is brought to the graves, || And a watch is kept over the heap.
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The clods of the valley have been sweet to him, || And he draws every man after him, || And there is no numbering before him.
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And how do you comfort me [with] vanity, || And trespass has been left in your answers?”
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