Job 20:1-15

English Standard Version

² “Therefore my ^(B)thoughts answer me,
    because of my haste within me.
³ I hear censure that insults me,
    and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.
⁴ Do you not know this from of old,
    ^(C)since man was placed on earth,
^5 (D)that the exulting of the wicked is short,
    and the joy of the godless but for a moment?
^6 (E)Though his height mount up to the heavens,
    and his head reach to the clouds,
⁷ he will perish forever like his own ^(F)dung;
    those who have seen him will say, ^(G)‘Where is he?’
⁸ He will fly away like ^(H)a dream and not be found;
    he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
^9 (I)The eye that saw him will see him no more,
    nor will his place any more behold him.
¹⁰ His children will seek the favor of the poor,
    and his hands will ^(J)give back his wealth.
¹¹ His bones are full of his ^(K)youthful vigor,
    but it will lie ^(L)down with him in the dust.

¹² “Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
    though he hides it ^(M)under his tongue,
¹³ though he is loath to let it go
    and holds it in his mouth,
¹⁴ yet his food is turned in his stomach;
    it is the venom of ^(N)cobras within him.
¹⁵ He swallows down riches and vomits them up again;
    God casts them out of his belly.