Job 20:1-29
20 Zoʹphar+ the Naʹa·ma·thite said in reply:
2 “This is why my own troubling thoughts urge me to answerBecause of the agitation I feel.
3 I have heard a reproof that insults me;And my understanding* impels me to reply.
4 Surely you must have always known this,For it has been so since man* was put on the earth,+
5 That the joyful cry of the wicked is briefAnd the rejoicing of the godless one* is for a moment.+
6 Although his greatness ascends to heavenAnd his head reaches to the clouds,
7 He will perish forever like his own dung;Those who used to see him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8 He will fly off like a dream, and they will not find him;He will be chased away like a vision of the night.
9 The eye that once saw him will not do so again,And his place will behold him no more.+
10 His own children will seek the favor of the poor,And his own hands will give back his wealth.+
11 His bones were full of youthful vigor,But it* will lie down with him in mere dust.
12 If what is bad tastes sweet in his mouth,If he hides it under his tongue,
13 If he savors it and does not let it goBut keeps holding it in his mouth,
14 His food will turn sour inside him;It will become like the poison* of cobras within him.
15 He has swallowed down wealth, but he will vomit it up;God will empty it out of his belly.
16 The venom of cobras he will suck;The fangs* of a viper will kill him.
17 He will never see the streams of water,The torrents of honey and butter.
18 He will give back his goods without consuming them;*He will not enjoy the wealth from his trade.+
19 For he has crushed and abandoned the poor;He has seized a house that he did not build.
20 But he will feel no peace within himself;His wealth will not help him escape.
21 There is nothing left for him to devour;That is why his prosperity will not last.
22 When his wealth reaches its peak, anxiety will overtake him;The full force of misfortune will come against him.
23 As he fills his belly,God* will send his burning anger upon him,Raining it down upon him into his bowels.
24 When he flees from weapons of iron,Arrows from a copper bow will pierce him.
25 He pulls an arrow from his back,A glittering weapon from his gall,And terror seizes him.+
26 Total darkness awaits his treasures;A fire that no one fanned will consume him;Calamity awaits any survivors in his tent.
27 Heaven will uncover his error;The earth will rise up against him.
28 A flood will sweep his house away;It will be a heavy torrent on the day of God’s* anger.
29 This is the wicked man’s share from God,The inheritance that God has decreed for him.”
Footnotes
^ Lit., “a spirit from my understanding.”
^ Or “mankind; Adam.”
^ Or “the apostate.”
^ That is, his vigor.
^ Or “gall.”
^ Lit., “tongue.”
^ Lit., “and he will not swallow.”
^ Lit., “He.”
^ Lit., “his.”