Job 20
Authorized (King James) Version
20 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer,
and for this I make haste.
3 I have heard the check of my reproach,
and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.
4 Knowest thou not this of old,
since man was placed upon earth,
5 that the triumphing of the wicked is short,
and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens,
and his head reach unto the clouds;
7 yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung:
they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found:
yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more;
neither shall his place any more behold him.
10 His children shall seek to please the poor,
and his hands shall restore their goods.
11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth,
which shall lie down with him in the dust.
12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,
though he hide it under his tongue;
13 though he spare it, and forsake it not;
but keep it still within his mouth:
14 yet his meat in his bowels is turned,
it is the gall of asps within him.
15 He hath swallowed down riches,
and he shall vomit them up again:
God shall cast them out of his belly.
16 He shall suck the poison of asps:
the viper’s tongue shall slay him.
17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods,
the brooks of honey and butter.
18 That which he laboured for shall he restore,
and shall not swallow it down:
according to his substance shall the restitution be,
and he shall not rejoice therein.
19 Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor;
because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;
20 surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly,
he shall not save of that which he desired.
21 There shall none of his meat be left;
therefore shall no man look for his goods.
22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits:
every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.
23 When he is about to fill his belly,
God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him,
and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.
24 He shall flee from the iron weapon,
and the bow of steel shall strike him through.
25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body;
yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall:
terrors are upon him.
26 All darkness shall be hid in his secret places:
a fire not blown shall consume him;
it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.
27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity;
and the earth shall rise up against him.
28 The increase of his house shall depart,
and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God,
and the heritage appointed unto him by God.
Job 20
New Living Translation
Zophar’s Second Response to Job
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
2 “I must reply
because I am greatly disturbed.
3 I’ve had to endure your insults,
but now my spirit prompts me to reply.
4 “Don’t you realize that from the beginning of time,
ever since people were first placed on the earth,
5 the triumph of the wicked has been short lived
and the joy of the godless has been only temporary?
6 Though the pride of the godless reaches to the heavens
and their heads touch the clouds,
7 yet they will vanish forever,
thrown away like their own dung.
Those who knew them will ask,
‘Where are they?’
8 They will fade like a dream and not be found.
They will vanish like a vision in the night.
9 Those who once saw them will see them no more.
Their families will never see them again.
10 Their children will beg from the poor,
for they must give back their stolen riches.
11 Though they are young,
their bones will lie in the dust.
12 “They enjoyed the sweet taste of wickedness,
letting it melt under their tongue.
13 They savored it,
holding it long in their mouths.
14 But suddenly the food in their bellies turns sour,
a poisonous venom in their stomach.
15 They will vomit the wealth they swallowed.
God won’t let them keep it down.
16 They will suck the poison of cobras.
The viper will kill them.
17 They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil
or rivers of milk and honey.
18 They will give back everything they worked for.
Their wealth will bring them no joy.
19 For they oppressed the poor and left them destitute.
They foreclosed on their homes.
20 They were always greedy and never satisfied.
Nothing remains of all the things they dreamed about.
21 Nothing is left after they finish gorging themselves.
Therefore, their prosperity will not endure.
22 “In the midst of plenty, they will run into trouble
and be overcome by misery.
23 May God give them a bellyful of trouble.
May God rain down his anger upon them.
24 When they try to escape an iron weapon,
a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce them.
25 The arrow is pulled from their back,
and the arrowhead glistens with blood.[a]
The terrors of death are upon them.
26 Their treasures will be thrown into deepest darkness.
A wildfire will devour their goods,
consuming all they have left.
27 The heavens will reveal their guilt,
and the earth will testify against them.
28 A flood will sweep away their house.
God’s anger will descend on them in torrents.
29 This is the reward that God gives the wicked.
It is the inheritance decreed by God.”
Footnotes
- 20:25 Hebrew with gall.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
