Job 20

20:1

Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

20:2

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

20:3

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

20:4

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

20:5

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

20:6

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

20:7

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

20:8

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

20:9

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

20:10

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

20:11

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

20:12

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

20:13

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

20:14

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

20:15

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

20:16

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

20:17

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

20:18

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

20:19

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

20:20

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

20:21

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

20:22

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

20:23

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

20:24

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

20:25

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

20:26

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

20:27

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

20:28

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

20:29

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