Job 9:24

³Is it good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked?

¹You are righteous, LORD, when I contend with you; yet I would like to plead a case with you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are they all at ease who deal very treacherously? ²You have planted them. Yes, they have taken root. They grow. Yes, they produce fruit. You are near in their mouth, and far from their heart.

³For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. ⁴For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm. ⁵They are free from burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men. ⁶Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment. ⁷Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.

³⁰David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered and went barefoot. All the people who were with him each covered his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.

⁷“Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, and grow mighty in power? ⁸Their child is established with them in their sight, their offspring before their eyes. ⁹Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. ¹⁰Their bulls breed without fail. Their cows calve, and don’t miscarry. ¹¹They send out their little ones like a flock. Their children dance. ¹²They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe. ¹³They spend their days in prosperity. In an instant they go down to Sheol.^14[+] They tell God, ‘Depart from us, for we don’t want to know about your ways. ¹⁵What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?’

²Then the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was kindled against Job. His wrath was kindled because he justified himself rather than God.

¹⁸“To you, king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty. ¹⁹Because of the greatness that he gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. He killed whom he wanted to, and he kept alive whom he wanted to. He raised up whom he wanted to, and he put down whom he wanted to. ²⁰But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. ²¹He was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the animals’, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the sky, until he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and that he sets up over it whomever he will.

¹⁴from men by your hand, LORD, from men of the world, whose portion is in this life. You fill the belly of your cherished ones. Your sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children.

⁷“After this I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there was a fourth animal, awesome, powerful, and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet. It was different from all the animals that were before it. It had ten horns.

⁸“I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking arrogantly. ⁹“I watched until thrones were placed, and one who was Ancient of Days sat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, and its wheels burning fire. ¹⁰A fiery stream issued and came out from before him. Thousands of thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set. The books were opened.

¹¹“I watched at that time because of the voice of the arrogant words which the horn spoke. I watched even until the animal was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire. ¹²As for the rest of the animals, their dominion was taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

¹³“I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. ¹⁴Dominion was given him, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be destroyed.

¹⁵“As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. ¹⁶I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. “So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

¹⁷‘These great animals, which are four, are four kings, who will arise out of the earth. ¹⁸But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’

¹⁹“Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth animal, which was different from all of them, exceedingly terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of bronze; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet; ²⁰and concerning the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three fell, even that horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke arrogantly, whose look was more stout than its fellows. ²¹I saw, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, ²²until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

²³“So he said, ‘The fourth animal will be a fourth kingdom on earth, which will be different from all the kingdoms, and will devour the whole earth, and will tread it down and break it in pieces. ²⁴As for the ten horns, ten kings will arise out of this kingdom. Another will arise after them; and he will be different from the former, and he will put down three kings. ²⁵He will speak words against the Most High, and will wear out the saints of the Most High. He will plan to change the times and the law; and they will be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.

²⁶“‘But the judgment will be set, and they will take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it to the end. ²⁷The kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole sky, will be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions will serve and obey him.’

²⁸“Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me greatly, and my face was changed in me; but I kept the matter in my heart.”

²⁵If it isn’t so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?”