If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
If - `While (His) scourge (Isaiah 28:15) slays suddenly (both the perfect and the wicked, Job 9:22), He laughs at (disregards and treats as though He laughed at) the trial (calamity) of the innocent.' Umbreit (cf my 'Critical Commentary') takes "the wicked" as the object of "slay suddenly;" and in order to make an antithesis to suddenly, translates the Hebrew for "trial" [macaach], 'pining away' [from [maacam, to melt away]. 'Whilst His scourge slays suddenly (the wicked, Job 9:22), He laughs at the (protracted) pining away of the innocent.' But Job 9:23 requires that the object after "slay suddenly" should be "the perfect and the wicked:" and in Deuteronomy 4:34, and elsewhere, the Hebrew word is used for 'temptation' or 'trial' [from naacaah (H5254), to try].