22 This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked. 23 If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent. 24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?
22 It is all one; therefore I say, He destroys both the blameless and the wicked. 23 When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity
22 Since either way it ends up the same, I can only conclude that God destroys the good right along with the bad. 23 When calamity hits and brings sudden death, he folds his arms, aloof from the despair of the innocent. 24 He lets the wicked take over running the world, he installs judges who can't tell right from wrong. If he's not responsible, who is?
22 It is all one thing; Therefore I say, 'He destroys the blameless and the wicked.' 23 If the scourge slays suddenly, He laughs at the plight of the innocent. 24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, who else could it be?
22 Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God. That's why I say, 'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.' 23 When a plague sweeps through, he laughs at the death of the innocent. 24 The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked, and God blinds the eyes of the judges. If he's not the one who does it, who is?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Job 9:22-24
Commentary on Job 9:22-24
(Read Job 9:22-24)
Job touches briefly upon the main point now in dispute. His friends maintained that those who are righteous and good, always prosper in this world, and that none but the wicked are in misery and distress: he said, on the contrary, that it is a common thing for the wicked to prosper, and the righteous to be greatly afflicted. Yet there is too much passion in what Job here says, for God doth not afflict willingly. When the spirit is heated with dispute or with discontent, we have need to set a watch before our lips.