Job 20
Christian Standard Bible
Zophar Speaks
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite(A) replied:
2 This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer,
because I am upset![a]
3 I have heard a rebuke that insults me,
and my understanding[b] makes me reply.(B)
4 Don’t you know that ever since antiquity,
from the time a human was placed on earth,
5 the joy of the wicked has been brief
and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?(C)
6 Though his arrogance reaches heaven,
and his head touches the clouds,(D)
7 he will vanish forever like his own dung.
Those who know[c] him will ask, “Where is he?” (E)
8 He will fly away like a dream and never be found;
he will be chased away like a vision in the night.(F)
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more,(G)
and his household will no longer see him.(H)
10 His children will beg from[d] the poor,
for his own hands must give back his wealth.
11 His frame may be full of youthful vigor,
but it will lie down with him in dust.(I)
12 Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth
and he conceals it under his tongue,
13 though he cherishes it and will not let it go
but keeps it in his mouth,(J)
14 yet the food in his stomach turns
into cobras’ venom inside him.
15 He swallows wealth but must vomit it up;
God will force it from his stomach.
16 He will suck the poison of cobras;
a viper’s fangs[e] will kill him.(K)
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and curds.(L)
18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;
he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.
19 For he oppressed and abandoned the poor;
he seized a house he did not build.(M)
20 Because his appetite is never satisfied,[f]
he does not let anything he desires escape.
21 Nothing is left for him to consume;(N)
therefore, his prosperity will not last.
22 At the height of his success[g] distress will come to him;(O)
the full weight of misery[h] will crush him.
23 When he fills his stomach,
God will send his burning anger against him,
raining(P) it down on him while he is eating.[i]
24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him.
25 He pulls it out of his back,
the flashing tip out of his liver.[j]
Terrors come over him.(Q)
26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
A fire unfanned by human hands will consume(R) him;
it will feed on what is left in his tent.
27 The heavens will expose his iniquity,(S)
and the earth will rise up against him.(T)
28 The possessions in his house will be removed,
flowing away on the day of God’s anger.
29 This is the wicked person’s lot(U) from God,
the inheritance God ordained for him.
Footnotes
- 20:2 Lit because of my feeling within me
- 20:3 Lit and a spirit from my understanding
- 20:7 Lit have seen
- 20:10 Or children must compensate
- 20:16 Lit tongue
- 20:20 Lit Because he does not know ease in his stomach
- 20:22 Lit In the fullness of his excess
- 20:22 Some Hb mss, LXX, Vg; other Hb mss read the hand of everyone in misery
- 20:23 Text emended; MT reads him, against his flesh
- 20:25 Or gallbladder
Job 20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Zophar Speaks: Wickedness Receives Just Retribution
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2 “Listen! My thoughts urge me to answer
because of the agitation within me.
3 I hear censure that insults me,
and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me.(A)
4 Do you not know this from of old,
ever since mortals were placed on earth,(B)
5 that the exulting of the wicked is short
and the joy of the godless is but for a moment?(C)
6 Even though they mount up high as the heavens
and their head reaches to the clouds,(D)
7 they will perish forever like their own dung;
those who have seen them will say, ‘Where are they?’
8 They will fly away like a dream and not be found;
they will be chased away like a vision of the night.(E)
9 The eye that saw them will see them no more,
nor will their place behold them any longer.(F)
10 Their children will seek the favor of the poor,
and their hands will give back their wealth.(G)
11 Their bodies, once full of youth,
will lie down in the dust with them.(H)
12 “Though wickedness is sweet in their mouth,
though they hide it under their tongues,(I)
13 though they are loath to let it go
and hold it in their mouths,
14 yet their food is turned in their stomachs;
it is the venom of asps within them.
15 They swallow down riches and vomit them up again;
God casts them out of their bellies.
16 They will suck the poison of asps;
the tongue of a viper will kill them.(J)
17 They will not look on the rivers,
the streams flowing with honey and curds.(K)
18 They will give back the fruit of their toil
and will not swallow it down;
from the profit of their trading
they will get no enjoyment.(L)
19 For they have crushed and abandoned the poor;
they have seized a house that they did not build.(M)
20 “For they knew no quiet in their bellies;
in their greed they let nothing escape.(N)
21 There was nothing left after they had eaten;
therefore their prosperity will not endure.(O)
22 In full sufficiency they will be in distress;
all the force of misery will come upon them.
23 To fill their belly to the full,
God[a] will send his fierce anger into them
and rain it upon them as their food.(P)
24 They will flee from an iron weapon;
a bronze arrow will strike them through.(Q)
25 It is drawn forth and comes out of their body,
and the glittering point comes out of their gall;
terrors come upon them.(R)
26 Utter darkness is laid up for their treasures;
a fire fanned by no one will devour them;
what is left in their tent will be consumed.(S)
27 The heavens will reveal their iniquity,
and the earth will rise up against them.(T)
28 The possessions of their house will be carried away,
dragged off in the day of God’s[b] wrath.(U)
29 This is the portion of the wicked from God,
the heritage decreed for them by God.”(V)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.