约伯记 21

¹约伯回答说：Then Job answered:

²你们要细听我的言语，就算是你们安慰我。“Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me.

³请宽容我，我又要说话；说了以后，任凭你们嗤笑吧！Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.

⁴我岂是向人诉冤？为何不焦急呢？Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?

⁵你们要看着我而惊奇，用手捂口。Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.

⁶我每逢思想，心就惊惶，浑身战兢。When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.

⁷恶人为何存活，享大寿数，势力强盛呢？Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?

⁸他们眼见儿孙，和他们一同坚立。Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.

⁹他们的家宅平安无惧；　神的杖也不加在他们身上。Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.

¹⁰他们的公牛孳生而不断绝；母牛下犊而不掉胎。Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.

¹¹他们打发小孩子出去，多如羊群；他们的儿女踊跃跳舞。They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,

¹²他们随着琴鼓歌唱，又因箫声欢喜。singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute.

¹³他们度日诸事亨通，转眼下入阴间。They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.

¹⁴他们对　神说：离开我们吧！我们不愿晓得你的道。Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.

¹⁵全能者是谁，我们何必事奉他呢？求告他有什么益处呢？Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

¹⁶看哪，他们亨通不在乎自己；恶人所谋定的离我好远。Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

¹⁷恶人的灯何尝熄灭？患难何尝临到他们呢？　神何尝发怒，向他们分散灾祸呢？How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?

¹⁸他们何尝像风前的碎秸，如暴风刮去的糠秕呢？Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?

¹⁹你们说：　神为恶人的儿女积蓄罪孽；我说：不如本人受报，好使他亲自知道。It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.

²⁰愿他亲眼看见自己败亡，亲自饮全能者的忿怒。Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.

²¹他的岁月既尽，他还顾他本家吗？For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out?

²²神既审判那在高位的，谁能将知识教训他呢？Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high?

²³有人至死身体强壮，尽得平靖安逸；One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease.

²⁴他的奶桶充满，他的骨髓滋润。His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow.

²⁵有人至死心中痛苦，终身未尝福乐的滋味；Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity.

²⁶他们一样躺卧在尘土中，都被虫子遮盖。But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.

²⁷我知道你们的意思，并诬害我的计谋。Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.

²⁸你们说：霸者的房屋在哪里？恶人住过的帐棚在哪里？For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’

²⁹你们岂没有询问过路的人吗？不知道他们所引的证据吗？Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports?

³⁰就是恶人在祸患的日子得存留，在发怒的日子得逃脱。Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.

³¹他所行的，有谁当面给他说明？他所做的，有谁报应他呢？Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done?

³²然而他要被抬到茔地；并有人看守坟墓。He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.

³³他要以谷中的土块为甘甜；在他以先去的无数，在他以后去的更多。The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.

³⁴你们对答的话中既都错谬，怎么徒然安慰我呢？So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”