Job 21:7–18

⁷“Why ^ado the wicked still live,

Continue on, also become very ^bpowerful?

⁸“Their ^1adescendants are established with them in their sight,

And their offspring before their eyes,

⁹Their houses ^aare safe from fear,

And the rod of God is not on them.

¹⁰“His ox mates ¹without fail;

His cow calves and does not abort.

¹¹“They send forth their little ones like the flock,

And their children skip about.

¹²“They ¹sing to the timbrel and harp

And rejoice at the sound of the flute.

¹³“They ^aspend their days in prosperity,

And ¹suddenly they go down to ²Sheol.

¹⁴“They say to God, ‘^aDepart from us!

We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.

¹⁵‘¹Who is ²the Almighty, that we should serve Him,

And ^awhat would we gain if we entreat Him?’

¹⁶“Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand;

The ^acounsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁷“How often is ^athe lamp of the wicked put out,

Or does their ^bcalamity fall on them?

Does ¹God apportion destruction in His anger?

¹⁸“Are they as ^astraw before the wind,

And like ^bchaff which the storm carries away?