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Job 21:17-19
New Catholic Bible
Job 21:17-19
New Catholic Bible
How Often?[a]
17 “Yet, how often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished?
How often does calamity befall them
as God in his anger uses his retribution to repay them?
18 How often are they like straw blown away by the wind
or like chaff that the storm carries off?
What Concern Will He Have for His Family?[b]
19 “According to you, God stores up punishment for a man’s children,
but the wicked should be the ones punished and requited for their evil.
Footnotes
- Job 21:17 People say that the happiness of the wicked is fragile and ephemeral. Job skeptically asks how often this is really the case.
- Job 21:19 The ancient principle of collective retribution said that children are punished for their parents’ sins (Job 5:4; 20:10; Deut 5:9). Job no longer accepts this explanation. Job demands that each person be repaid according to his or her deeds.
