Job 20
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
And Zophar the Naamathite answers and says:
2 “So my anxious thoughts compel me to answer, because of the turmoil within me.
“Therefore my thoughts cause me to answer, And because of my sensations in me.
3 I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding prompts a reply.
I hear the discipline of my shame, And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer:
4 Do you not know that from antiquity, since man was placed on the earth,
Have you known this from antiquity? Since the placing of man on earth?
5 the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
That the singing of the wicked [is] short, And the joy of the profane for a moment,
6 Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds,
Though his excellence goes up to the heavens, He strikes his head against a cloud—
7 he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’
He perishes as his own dung forever, His beholders say, 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.
He flees as a dream, and they do not find him, And he is driven away as a vision of the night,
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his place will no longer behold him.
The eye has not seen him, and does not add. And his place does not behold him again.
10 His sons will seek the favor of the poor, for his own hands must return his wealth.
His sons oppress the poor, And his hands give back his wealth.
11 The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie down with him in the dust.
His bones have been full of his youth, and it lies down with him on the dust.
12 Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,
Though he sweetens evil in his mouth, hides it under his tongue,
13 though he cannot bear to let it go and keeps it in his mouth,
has pity on it, and does not forsake it, and keeps it back in the midst of his palate,
14 yet in his stomach his food sours into the venom of cobras within him.
his food is turned in his bowels, the bitterness of cobras [is] in his heart.
15 He swallows wealth but vomits it out; God will force it from his stomach.
He has swallowed wealth, and vomits it. God drives it out from his belly.
16 He will suck the poison of cobras; the fangs of a viper will kill him.
He sucks [the] gall of cobras, the tongue of a viper slays him.
17 He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
He does not look on streams, Flowing of brooks of honey and butter.
18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.
He is giving back [what] he labored for, and does not consume [it]; As a bulwark [is] his exchange, and he does not exult.
19 For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; he has seized houses he did not build.
For he oppressed—he forsook the poor, He has taken a house away violently, And he does not build it.
20 Because his appetite is never satisfied, he cannot escape with his treasure.
For he has not known ease in his belly. With his desirable thing he does not deliver himself.
21 Nothing is left for him to consume; thus his prosperity will not endure.
There is not a remnant to his food, Therefore his good does not stay.
22 In the midst of his plenty, he will be distressed; the full force of misery will come upon him.
In the fullness of his sufficiency he is constricted. Every perverse hand meets him.
23 When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats.
It comes to pass, at the filling of his belly, He sends forth against him The fierceness of His anger, Indeed, He rains on him in his eating.
24 Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him.
He flees from an iron weapon, A bow of bronze passes through him.
25 It is drawn out of his back, the gleaming point from his liver. Terrors come over him.
One has drawn, And it comes out from the body, And a glittering weapon proceeds from his gall. Terrors [are] on him.
26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
All darkness is hid for his treasures, A fire not blown consumes him, The remnant is broken in his tent.
27 The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.
The heavens reveal his iniquity, And earth is raising itself against him.
28 The possessions of his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God’s wrath.
The increase of his house is removed, Poured forth in a day of His anger.
29 This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the inheritance God has appointed him.”
This [is] the portion of a wicked man from God. And an inheritance appointed him by God.”
