Job 20:1
Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
Job 20:2
“So my anxious thoughts compel me to answer, because of the turmoil within me.
Job 20:3
I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding prompts a reply.
Job 20:4
Do you not know that from antiquity, since man was placed on the earth,
Job 20:5
the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
Job 20:6
Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds,
Job 20:7
he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’
Job 20:8
He will fly away like a dream, never to be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.
Job 20:9
The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his place will no longer behold him.
Job 20:10
His sons will seek the favor of the poor, for his own hands must return his wealth.
Job 20:11
The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie down with him in the dust.
Job 20:12
Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,
Job 20:13
though he cannot bear to let it go and keeps it in his mouth,
Job 20:14
yet in his stomach his food sours into the venom of cobras within him.
Job 20:15
He swallows wealth but vomits it out; God will force it from his stomach.
Job 20:16
He will suck the poison of cobras; the fangs of a viper will kill him.
Job 20:17
He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
Job 20:18
He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.
Job 20:19
For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; he has seized houses he did not build.
Job 20:20
Because his appetite is never satisfied, he cannot escape with his treasure.
Job 20:21
Nothing is left for him to consume; thus his prosperity will not endure.
Job 20:22
In the midst of his plenty, he will be distressed; the full force of misery will come upon him.
Job 20:23
When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats.
Job 20:24
Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him.
Job 20:25
It is drawn out of his back, the gleaming point from his liver. Terrors come over him.
Job 20:26
Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
Job 20:27
The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.
Job 20:28
The possessions of his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God’s wrath.
Job 20:29
This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the inheritance God has appointed him.”