Job 21 - Prayer Tents



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Job 21
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Job 21

Why Do the Wicked Have It So Good?

21Job replied:H347H6030H5592"Now listen to me carefully, please listen, at least do me the favor of listening.H8085H8085H4405H85753Put up with me while I have my say— then you can mock me later to your heart's content.H5375H1696H310H1696H39324"It's not you I'm complaining to—it's God. Is it any wonder I'm getting fed up with his silence?H7879H120H7307H71145Take a good look at me. Aren't you appalled by what's happened? No! Don't say anything. I can do without your comments.H6437H8074H7760H3027H63106When I look back, I go into shock, my body is racked with spasms.H2142H926H6427H270H13207Why do the wicked have it so good, live to a ripe old age and get rich?H7563H2421H6275H1396H24288They get to see their children succeed, get to watch and enjoy their grandchildren.H2233H3559H6440H6631H58699Their homes are peaceful and free from fear; they never experience God's disciplining rod.H1004H7965H6343H7626H43310Their bulls breed with great vigor and their cows calve without fail.H7794H5674H1602H6510H6403H792111They send their children out to play and watch them frolic like spring lambs.H7971H5759H6629H3206H754012They make music with fiddles and flutes, have good times singing and dancing.H5375H8596H3658H8055H6963H574813They have a long life on easy street, and die painlessly in their sleep.H3615H1086H3117H2896H7281H2865H5181H758514They say to God, 'Get lost! We've no interest in you or your ways.H559H410H5493H2654H1847H187015Why should we have dealings with God Almighty? What's there in it for us?'H7706H5647H3276H629316But they're wrong, dead wrong—they're not gods. It's beyond me how they can carry on like this!H2898H3027H6098H7563H736817"Still, how often does it happen that the wicked fail, or disaster strikes, or they get their just deserts?H5216H7563H1846H935H343H2505H2256H63918How often are they blown away by bad luck? Not very often.H8401H6440H7307H4671H5492H158919You might say, 'God is saving up the punishment for their children.' I say, 'Give it to them right now so they'll know what they've done!'H433H6845H205H1121H7999H304520They deserve to experience the effects of their evil, feel the full force of God's wrath firsthand.H5869H7200H3589H8354H2534H770621What do they care what happens to their families after they're safely tucked away in the grave?H2656H1004H310H4557H2320H2686

Fancy Funerals with All the Trimmings

22"But who are we to tell God how to run his affairs? He's dealing with matters that are way over our heads.H3925H410H1847H8199H731123Some people die in the prime of life, with everything going for them—H4191H8537H6106H7946H796124fat and sassy.H5845H4390H2461H6106H8248H422125Others die bitter and bereft, never getting a taste of happiness.H4191H4751H5315H398H289626They're laid out side by side in the cemetery, where the worms can't tell one from the other.H7901H3162H6083H7415H368027"I'm not deceived. I know what you're up to, the plans you're cooking up to bring me down.H3045H4284H4209H255428Naively you claim that the castles of tyrants fall to pieces, that the achievements of the wicked collapse.H559H1004H5081H4908H168H756329Have you ever asked world travelers how they see it? Have you not listened to their storiesH7592H5674H1870H5234H22630Of evil men and women who got off scot-free, who never had to pay for their wickedness?H7451H2820H3117H343H2986H3117H567831Did anyone ever confront them with their crimes? Did they ever have to face the music?H5046H1870H6440H7999H621332Not likely—they're given fancy funerals with all the trimmings,H2986H6913H8245H143033Gently lowered into expensive graves, with everyone telling lies about how wonderful they were.H7263H5158H4985H120H4900H310H4557H644034"So how do you expect me to get any comfort from your nonsense? Your so-called comfort is a tissue of lies."H5162H1892H8666H7604H4604


The Message (MSG). All Scripture quotations are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. More details.
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