Job 20

1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said:

2 Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me, even by reason of my haste that is in me.

Therefore various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind is hurried away to different things.

3 I have heard the reproof which putteth me to shame, and the spirit of my understanding answereth me.

The doctrine with which thou reprovest me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding shall answer for me.

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

This I know from the beginning, since man was placed upon the earth,

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

That the praise 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;

If his pride mount up even to heaven, and his head touch the clouds:

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

In the end he shall be destroyed like a dunghill, and they that has 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.

As a dream that fleeth away he shall not be found, he shall pass as a vision of the night:

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

The eyes that had seen him, shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more behold him.

10 His children shall seek the favour of the poor, and his hands shall give back his wealth.

His children shall be oppressed with want, and his hands shall render him his sorrow.

11 His bones are full of his youth, but it shall lie down with him in the dust.

His bones shall be filled with the vices of his youth, and they shall sleep with him in the dust.

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

For when evil shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue.

13 Though he spare it, and will not let it go, but keep it still within his mouth;

He will spare it, and not leave it, and will hide it in his throat.

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

His bread in his belly shall be turned into 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.

The riches which he hath swallowed; he shall vomit up, and God shall draw them out of his belly.

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

He shall suck the head of asps, and the viper’s tongue shall kill him.

17 He shall not look upon the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and butter.

(Let him not see the streams of the river, the brooks of honey and of butter.)

18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down; according to the substance that he hath gotten, he shall not rejoice.

He shall be punished for all that he did, and yet shall not be consumed: according to the multitude of his devices so also shall he suffer.

19 For he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor; he hath violently taken away an house, and he shall not build it up.

Because he broke in and stripped the poor: he hath violently taken away a house which he did not build.

20 Because he knew no quietness within him, he shall not save aught of that wherein he delighteth.

And yet his belly was not filled: and when he hath the things he coveted, he shall not be able to possess them.

21 There was nothing left that he devoured not; therefore his prosperity shall not endure.

There was nothing left of his meat, and therefore nothing shall continue of his goods:

22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: the hand of every one that is in misery shall come upon him.

When he shall be filled, he shall be straitened, he shall burn, and every sorrow shall fall upon him.

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

May his belly be filled, that God may send forth the wrath of his indignation upon him, and rain down his war upon him.

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

He shall flee from weapons of iron, and shall fall upon a bow of brass.

25 He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his body: yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall; terrors are upon him.

The sword is drawn out, and cometh forth from its scabbard, and glittereth in his bitterness: the terrible ones shall go and come upon him.

26 All darkness is laid up for his treasures: a fire not blown [by man] shall devour him; it shall consume that which is left in his tent.

All darkness is hid in his secret places: a fire that is not kindled shall devour him, he shall be afflicted when left in his tabernacle.

27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him.

The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him.

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

The offspring of his house shall be exposed, he shall be pulled down in the day of God’s wrath.

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

This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his doings from the Lord.