Job 20
1 Then Zophar replied,
Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
2 “I am very perturbed about what you have said, so I want to reply very quickly.
“My thoughts make me answer quickly because of the worry that is in me.
3 By saying these things you have insulted me, but I know how (OR, because I understand very much) I can reply to you.
I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, but a spirit from my understanding answers me.
4 “Do you not know that from long ago, ever since people were first put on the earth,
Do you not know this fact from ancient times, when God placed man on earth:
5 wicked people [like you] do not continue to rejoice for a long time, ungodly people are happy only for a (moment/very short time) [HYP]?
the triumph of a wicked man is short, and the joy of a godless man lasts only for a moment?
6 [Even] though their reputation/pride reaches up to the sky and their fame goes up as high as the clouds,
Though his height reaches up to the heavens, and his head reaches to the clouds,
7 they will disappear forever, like their own dung, and those who knew them will ask, ‘(Where did they go/What happened to them)?’
yet such a person will perish permanently like his own feces; those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'
8 They will be forgotten like [SIM] a dream is, and they will exist no more. They will vanish, like visions [that people see] during the night.
He will fly away like a dream and will not be found; indeed, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
9 Those who saw those people previously will never see them again; even their families [MTY] will not see them any more.
The eye that saw him will see him no more; his place will see him no longer.
10 Their children will be forced to return the valuable things that those children stole from poor people [DOU].
His children will apologize to poor people; his hands will have to give back his wealth.
11 Previously their bodies were young and strong, but they will die and [their bodies will] be buried in the ground.
His bones are full of youthful strength, but it will lie down with him in the dust.
12 “Doing wicked things was like having sweet food in their mouths, and they wanted to continue to taste it.
Although wickedness is sweet in his mouth, although he hides it under his tongue,
13 And they did not want to stop doing those things,
although he holds it there and does not let it go but keeps it still in his mouth—
14 [but some day] the evil things that they enjoyed doing will become like food [that they swallow] [and which becomes] as bitter as snake venom.
the food in his intestines turns bitter; it becomes the poison of asps inside him.
15 Wicked people will not continue to keep the money they have accumulated, like people do not keep the food that they vomit. God takes their wealth from them.
He swallows down riches, but he will vomit them up again; God will cast them out of his stomach.
16 What wicked people do is [like] [MET] swallowing snake venom; it will kill them like [MET] the bite of a poisonous snake kills people.
He will suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue will kill him.
17 They will not remain alive to see abundant blessings [IDM] [from God], milk and olive oil and honey, that are [so abundant they are] like [MET] a stream that flows by.
He will not enjoy the streams, the torrents of honey and butter.
18 They will be forced to give back the things that they stole from the poor; they will not be able to continue to enjoy those things. They will not remain happy because of what they got from their businesses,
He will give back the fruit of his labor and will not be able to eat it; he will not enjoy the wealth earned by his commerce.
19 because they oppressed poor people and refused to help them, and they took other people’s houses [by cheating them].
For he has oppressed and neglected poor people; he has violently taken away houses that he did not build.
20 “They were always greedy and never satisfied. They just keep dreaming about owning more and more things.
Because he has known no satisfaction himself, he will not be able to save anything in which he takes pleasure.
21 When they finished eating their food, there was never anything left over [because they had greedily eaten it all]; but now their prosperity will end.
There is nothing left that he did not devour; therefore his prosperity will not be permanent.
22 When they are extremely prosperous/wealthy, they will suddenly experience a lot of trouble. (Misery will strike them and crush them [PRS]/They will suffer very greatly).
In the abundance of his wealth he will fall into trouble; the hand of everyone who is in poverty will come against him.
23 When the wicked people are filling their stomachs, God will show that he is very angry with them and punish them; the punishment [that he gives them] will be like [MET] rain falling on them.
When he is about to fill his stomach, God will throw the fierceness of his wrath on him; God will rain it down on him while he is eating.
24 They will try to escape from [being killed by] iron weapons, but arrows with bronze points will pierce them.
Although that man will flee from the iron weapon, a bow of bronze will shoot him.
25 The arrows will [go completely through their bodies and] stick out of their backs; the shiny points of the arrows will have blood dripping from them, and those wicked people will be terrified.
He pulls it out of his back and the gleaming point comes out of his liver. Terrors come over him.
26 Their valuable possessions will all be destroyed; a fire that is not lit by humans, [but by God, ] will burn them up and also destroy the things that are left in their tents.
Complete darkness is reserved for his treasures; a fire not fanned will devour him; it will consume what is left in his tent.
27 The [angels in] heaven [MTY] will reveal the sins that those wicked people have committed, and [people on] earth will stand up and testify against them.
The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him as a witness.
28 When God punishes [MTY] [people], all the possessions in the wicked people’s houses will be carried away by a flood.
The wealth of his house will vanish; his goods will flow away on the day of God's wrath.
29 That is what will happen to wicked people [like you]; that is what God has decided will happen to them.”
This is the wicked man's portion from God, the heritage reserved for him by God.”
