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