Job 21:7-34, Psa 73:3, Ecc 2:14-16, Mal 3:15 | ESV | STEP | Why do the wicked live , reach old age , and grow mighty in power ?

Job 21:7-34

7 ^aWhy do the wicked live,
reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
8 Their ^boffspring are established in their presence,
and their descendants before their eyes.
9 Their houses are ^csafe from fear,
and ^dno rod of God is upon them.
10 Their bull breeds without fail;
their cow calves and ^edoes not miscarry.
11 They send out their ^flittle boys like a flock,
and their children dance.
12 They sing to ^gthe tambourine and ^hthe lyre
and rejoice to the sound of ⁱthe pipe.
13 They ^jspend their days in prosperity,
and in ^kpeace they go down to ^lSheol.
14 They say to God, ^m‘Depart from us!
We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
15 ⁿWhat is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
And what ^oprofit do we get if we pray to him?’
16 Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?
^pThe counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 “How often is it that ^qthe lamp of the wicked is put out?
That their calamity comes upon them?
That God ^{▼▼Hebrew he} distributes pains in his anger?
18 That they are like ^sstraw before the wind,
and like ^tchaff that the storm carries away?
19 You say, ‘God ^ustores up their iniquity for their ^vchildren.’
Let him pay it out to them, that they may ^wknow it.
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction,
and let them ^xdrink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what do they care for their houses after them,
when ^ythe number of their months is cut off?
22 ^zWill any teach God knowledge,
seeing that he ^aajudges those who are on high?
23 One dies in his full vigor,
being wholly at ease and secure,
24 his pails ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain} full of milk
and ^acthe marrow of his bones moist.
25 Another dies in ^adbitterness of soul,
never having tasted of prosperity.
26 They ^aelie down alike in the dust,
and ^afthe worms cover them.
27 “Behold, I know your thoughts
and your schemes to wrong me.
28 For you say, ^ag‘Where is the house of the prince?
Where is ^ahthe tent in which the wicked lived?’
29 Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
and do you not accept their testimony
30 that ^aithe evil man is spared in the day of calamity,
that he is rescued in the day of wrath?
31 Who declares his way ^ajto his face,
and who ^akrepays him for what he has done?
32 When he is ^alcarried to the grave,
watch is kept over his tomb.
33 ^amThe clods of the valley are sweet to him;
^anall mankind follows after him,
and those who go before him are innumerable.
34 How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

Psalms 73:3

3 ^aoFor I was ^apenvious of the arrogant
when I saw the ^aqprosperity of the wicked.

Ecclesiastes 2:14-16

14 ^arThe wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the ^assame event happens to all of them. 15 Then I said in my heart, ^at“What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16 For of the wise as of the fool there is ^auno enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. ^avHow the wise dies just like the fool!

Malachi 3:15

15 And now we call ^awthe arrogant blessed. ^axEvildoers not only prosper but ^aythey put God to the test and they escape.’”