Job 20

1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

2 “So my anxious thoughts compel me to answer, because of the turmoil within me.

3 I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding prompts a reply.

4 Do you not know that from antiquity, since man was placed on the earth,

5 the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

6 Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds,

7 he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’

8 He will fly away like a dream, never to be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.

9 The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his place will no longer behold him.

10 His sons will seek the favor of the poor, for his own hands must return his wealth.

11 The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie down with him in the dust.

12 Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,

13 though he cannot bear to let it go and keeps it in his mouth,

14 yet in his stomach his food sours into the venom of cobras within him.

15 He swallows wealth but vomits it out; God will force it from his stomach.

16 He will suck the poison of cobras; the fangs of a viper will kill him.

17 He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.

19 For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; he has seized houses he did not build.

20 Because his appetite is never satisfied, he cannot escape with his treasure.

21 Nothing is left for him to consume; thus his prosperity will not endure.

22 In the midst of his plenty, he will be distressed; the full force of misery will come upon him.

23 When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats.

24 Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him.

25 It is drawn out of his back, the gleaming point from his liver. Terrors come over him.

26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.

27 The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.

28 The possessions of his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God’s wrath.

29 This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the inheritance God has appointed him.”

1 ¶ Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for [this] I make haste.

3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.

4 Knowest thou [not] this of old, since man was placed upon earth,

5 That the triumphing of the wicked [is] short, and the joy of the hypocrite [but] for a moment?

6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;

7 [Yet] he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where [is] he?

8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.

9 The eye also [which] saw him shall [see him] no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.

10 ¶ His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.

11 His bones are full [of the sin] of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.

12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, [though] he hide it under his tongue;

13 [Though] he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:

14 [Yet] his meat in his bowels is turned, [it is] the gall of asps within him.

15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

16 He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him.

17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.

18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow [it] down: according to [his] substance [shall] the restitution [be], and he shall not rejoice [therein].

19 Because he hath oppressed [and] hath forsaken the poor; [because] he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.

21 There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.

22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.

23 ¶ [When] he is about to fill his belly, [God] shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain [it] upon him while he is eating.

24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, [and] the bow of steel shall strike him through.

25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors [are] upon him.

26 All darkness [shall be] hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.

27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.

28 The increase of his house shall depart, [and his goods] shall flow away in the day of his wrath.

29 This [is] the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.

1 Then Zophar of Naema answered and said:

2 To this I must answer, and cannot wait.

3 And I will gladly hear who shall reprove and rebuke me: for the spirit of my understanding shall answer for me.

4 Knowest thou not that it hath been so ever since men were upon the earth?

5 That the glory of the wicked endureth not long, and the joy of the hypocrite endureth for a moment?

6 Though his height reach unto heaven, and his head touch the clouds,

7 But at the last he shall perish as dung, and they before whom he is seen shall say, Where is he?

8 As a dream passeth away, so shall it not be found; and as a vision vanisheth away in the night.

9 Whose eye hath seen him shall see him no more, neither shall his place behold him any more.

10 His children shall go begging, and his hand shall give him toil for wages.

11 His legs shall well pay for his secret sin, and shall lie down with him in the earth.

12 Though wickedness be pleasant in his mouth, yet shall it be wanting in his tongue.

13 It shall be stopped, and it shall not be permitted unto him; and it shall be denied him in his throat.

14 His inward food in his body shall be turned into the gall of vipers.

15 The goods which he hath swallowed he shall spue out: and God shall cast them out of his belly.

16 He shall suck the gall of vipers, and the serpent's tongue shall kill him.

17 He shall not see the rivers, nor the brooks of water flowing with honey and butter.

18 He shall labour, and not profit; and his goods shall be changed, and he shall not enjoy them.

19 For he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor; he hath taken unto himself houses which he built not.

20 For his belly could not be filled, neither shall he escape by his precious substance.

21 His meat shall not remain: therefore his good life shall not endure.

22 Though he have abundance and plenty, yet shall he be afraid; all manner of trouble shall come upon him. 23: And his belly shall be full, and he shall send the fury of his wrath upon him; and he shall rain upon him his strife.

24 He shall flee from the armour of iron, and the bow of brass shall drive him out.

25 A mere sword shall go out by him, and the lightning of the sword, which shall be bitter unto him, shall pass over him with terror.

26 There is no darkness to cover him. A fire shall consume him that is not puffed up: and he that is left in his tabernacle shall be in a bad way.

27 Heaven shall open his iniquity, and the earth shall sit down against him.

28 The corn of his house shall be carried away, scattered in the day of his wrath.

29 This is the reward of an ungodly man with God, and the inheritance of his speech with God.