📖 Job — Chapter 21 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Job 21:1 But Job answered and said,
Job 21:2 RHear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
Job 21:3 Suffer me Rthat I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.
Job 21:4 As for me, Ris my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be Ttroubled?
Job 21:5 TMark me, and Rbe astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
Job 21:6 REven when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
Job 21:7 RWherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
Job 21:8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.
Job 21:9 Their houses are RTsafe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
Job 21:10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; Rtheir cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
Job 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
Job 21:12 RThey take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
Job 21:13 RThey spend their days Tin wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
Job 21:14 Therefore Rthey say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
Job 21:15 RWhat is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
Job 21:16 Lo, their good is not in their hand: Rthe counsel of the wicked is far from me.
Job 21:17 How oft is the Tcandle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God Rdistributeth sorrows in his anger.
Job 21:18 They are Ras stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm Tcarrieth away.
Job 21:19 God Rlayeth up This iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.
Job 21:20 His eyes shall Rsee his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
Job 21:21 RFor what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
Job 21:22 Shall any Rteach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.
Job 21:23 One dieth Rin This full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
Job 21:24 RHis Tbreasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
Job 21:25 And another dieth Rin the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
Job 21:26 They shall lie down Ralike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
Job 21:27 Behold, RI know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.
Job 21:28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are Tthe Rdwelling places of the wicked?
Job 21:29 Have ye not asked them that Rgo by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,
Job 21:30 That Rthe wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of Twrath.
Job 21:31 Who shall Rdeclare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
Job 21:32 Yet shall Rhe be brought to the Tgrave, and shall Tremain in the tomb.
Job 21:33 The clods of the valley shall be Rsweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.
Job 21:34 How then Rcomfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth Tfalsehood?
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 21:1–16 — Job points to prosperous wicked people
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job asks for attentive hearing and observes that wicked people may grow old, powerful, and secure while rejecting God. He explicitly keeps their counsel far from himself. His observation challenges the claim that prosperity reliably proves righteousness or that disaster proves wickedness. Experience is more complex than the friends' formula.
Key Truth: Do not use prosperity as a simple test of character.
Check What You Remember
1. What does Job ask the friends to do diligently? (Job 21:2)
Find it in Job 21:2 (KJV).
2. Whom does he say can live long and gain power? (Job 21:7)
Find it in Job 21:7 (KJV).
3. Whose counsel does he say is far from him? (Job 21:16)
Find it in Job 21:16 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 21:17–26 — Unequal lives and shared mortality
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job questions the regularity of immediate judgment and contrasts people dying in comfort with people dying in bitterness. Both lie in the dust. He does not propose that God needs human instruction. Instead, he disputes the claim that earthly conditions neatly reveal how every person stands before God.
Key Truth: Recognize uneven circumstances without claiming mastery of God's judgment.
Check What You Remember
1. Who cannot be taught knowledge by people? (Job 21:22)
Find it in Job 21:22 (KJV).
2. How does one person die in Job's contrast? (Job 21:23)
Find it in Job 21:23 (KJV).
3. Where do both kinds of people lie? (Job 21:26)
Find it in Job 21:26 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 21:27–34 — False comfort challenged
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job recognizes what his companions imply and points to travelers' observations about wicked people's treatment. He ends by calling their comfort vain because falsehood remains in their answers. Comfort that depends on an inaccurate explanation will not bear the weight of someone's actual life. Listening is needed before a reliable response.
Key Truth: Comfort must be truthful to be useful.
Check What You Remember
1. Whom does Job suggest asking about these observations? (Job 21:29)
Find it in Job 21:29 (KJV).
2. Where is the wicked person eventually brought? (Job 21:32)
Find it in Job 21:32 (KJV).
3. What does Job say remains in the friends' answers? (Job 21:34)
Find it in Job 21:34 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
Ecclesiastes 7:15 — Ecclesiastes also records outcomes that challenge a simple moral formula for earthly life.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
What assumption about success or suffering should you reconsider in light of this chapter?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. What observation challenges the friends’ account of wickedness?
2. How does Job distance himself from the prosperous wicked he describes?
3. What shared end follows the contrast between an easy and bitter life?
4. Why does Job point to people who travel the way?
5. What is Job’s final assessment of their comfort?
Notes
Write what you want to remember, questions to explore, or Scriptures to look up later. Your saved notes are private to your account.
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