20:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
20:2 “My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed.
20:3 I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply.
20:4 “Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever since man was placed on the earth,
20:5 that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.
20:6 Though his pride reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds,
20:7 he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
20:8 Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found, banished like a vision of the night.
20:9 The eye that saw him will not see him again; his place will look on him no more.
20:10 His children must make amends to the poor; his own hands must give back his wealth.
20:11 The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie with him in the dust.
20:12 “Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue,
20:13 though he cannot bear to let it go and keeps it in his mouth,
20:14 yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him.
20:15 He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up.
20:16 He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him.
20:17 He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
20:18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.
20:19 For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses he did not build.
20:20 “Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his treasure.
20:21 Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure.
20:22 In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him.
20:23 When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows upon him.
20:24 Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.
20:25 He pulls it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over him;
20:26 total darkness lies in wait for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
20:27 The heavens will expose his guilt; the earth will rise up against him.
20:28 A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.
20:29 Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God.”
20:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
20:2 Because of this, my disquieting thoughts answer me; / And hence my haste is in me.
20:3 I hear the reproof that humiliates me, / And the spirit of my understanding answers me.
20:4 Do you not know this from of old, / Since man was set upon the earth,
20:5 That the joyous shouting of the wicked is short, / And the rejoicing of the profane is but for a moment?
20:6 Though his arrogance goes up to heaven, / And his head touches the clouds;
20:7 Like his own dung he perishes forever; / Those who have seen him say, Where is he?
20:8 Like a dream he flies away and is not found; / Indeed he is chased away like a vision of the night.
20:9 The eye looks on him then sees him no more, / Nor does his place observe him anymore.
20:10 His children seek the favor of the poor, / And his hands return his wealth.
20:11 His bones are full of youthful vigor, / Yet it lies down with him in the dust.
20:12 Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, / Though he hides it under his tongue,
20:13 Though he favors it and will not forsake it, / But holds it in his mouth;
20:14 His food in his bowels is changed; / It is the venom of asps within him.
20:15 He swallows down riches and vomits them up; / God casts them forth from his stomach.
20:16 He sucks the poison of asps; / The tongue of the viper slays him.
20:17 He will not look on the rivers, / The streams flowing with honey and butter.
20:18 He will return what he toiled for and will not swallow it down; / And he will not rejoice according to the wealth of his trading.
20:19 For he has oppressed and abandoned the poor; / He has violently seized a house that he did not build.
20:20 Because he knew no respite in his craving, / Of that which he desired he will save nothing.
20:21 There will be nothing left of what he has devoured; / Thus his prosperity will not endure.
20:22 In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be distressed; / The hand of everyone in trouble will come against him.
20:23 In order to fill his belly, / God will send the burning fierceness of His wrath on him / And will rain it upon him as his food.
20:24 He will flee from the iron weapon, / But the bronze bow will strike him through.
20:25 He draws the arrow out, and it comes out of his body; / Indeed the glittering point goes forth from his gall. / Terrors come upon him.
20:26 Total darkness is laid up as his treasures; / A fire not fanned by man will devour him; / It will feed on what is left in his tent.
20:27 The heavens will reveal his iniquity, / And the earth will rise up against him.
20:28 The increase of his house will depart / As things swept away in the day of His wrath.
20:29 This is the wicked man’s portion from God / And the inheritance decreed to him by God.