23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. 24 His breasts
23 One dies in his full vigor, being wholly at ease and secure, 24 his pails
23 Some people die in the prime of life, with everything going for them - 24 fat and sassy. 25 Others die bitter and bereft, never getting a taste of happiness. 26 They're laid out side by side in the cemetery, where the worms can't tell one from the other.
23 One dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and secure; 24 His pails are full of milk, And the marrow of his bones is moist. 25 Another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, Never having eaten with pleasure. 26 They lie down alike in the dust, And worms cover them.
23 One person dies in prosperity, completely comfortable and secure, 24 the picture of good health, vigorous and fit. 25 Another person dies in bitter poverty, never having tasted the good life. 26 But both are buried in the same dust, both eaten by the same maggots.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Job 21:23-26
Commentary on Job 21:17-26
(Read Job 21:17-26)
Job had described the prosperity of wicked people; in these verses he opposes this to what his friends had maintained about their certain ruin in this life. He reconciles this to the holiness and justice of God. Even while they prosper thus, they are light and worthless, of no account with God, or with wise men. In the height of their pomp and power, there is but a step between them and ruin. Job refers the difference Providence makes between one wicked man and another, into the wisdom of God. He is Judge of all the earth, and he will do right. So vast is the disproportion between time and eternity, that if hell be the lot of every sinner at last, it makes little difference if one goes singing thither, and another sighing. If one wicked man die in a palace, and another in a dungeon, the worm that dies not, and the fire that is not quenched, will be the same to them. Thus differences in this world are not worth perplexing ourselves about.