Job 21:26-33

The Message

Fancy Funerals with All the Trimmings

^22-26“But who are we to tell God how to run his affairs?
    He’s dealing with matters that are way over our heads.
Some people die in the prime of life,
    with everything going for them—
    fat and sassy.
Others die bitter and bereft,
    never getting a taste of happiness.
They’re laid out side by side in the cemetery,
    where the worms can’t tell one from the other.

^27-33“I’m not deceived. I know what you’re up to,
    the plans you’re cooking up to bring me down.
Naively you claim that the castles of tyrants fall to pieces,
    that the achievements of the wicked collapse.
Have you ever asked world travelers how they see it?
    Have you not listened to their stories
Of evil men and women who got off scot-free,
    who never had to pay for their wickedness?
Did anyone ever confront them with their crimes?
    Did they ever have to face the music?
Not likely—they’re given fancy funerals
    with all the trimmings,
Gently lowered into expensive graves,
    with everyone telling lies about how wonderful they were.