Job 21:17
How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger. How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
The verse belongs to the extended colloquy in chapters 3-31 between Job and his three friends concerning the cause and object of human suffering, including Job's own afflictions. That the book is inspired means that its speakers truly uttered what is recorded, not that every assertion advanced in the debate is true. It is part of Job's answer contending that the wicked prosper in this present life while their punishment is future. Its questions imply that the putting out of the lamp, the coming of destruction, and the distributing of sorrows in anger happen only rarely in this life, but are reserved for afterward.
The putting out of the light and the coming of calamity under God's anger portray complete destruction, like stubble and chaff carried away by the wind. The sorrows distributed in anger belong to the wicked and not to the saints, whose suffering is a family rod of correction meant to chasten and bless rather than a mark of vengeance or condemnation meant to destroy or injure. The general rule underlying the debate that evil is ultimately punished and good is ultimately rewarded is true, yet it was misapplied to Job, for adversity, affliction, and suffering do not prove that a person is under God's displeasure.