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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

  1. 20:25 Hebrew with gall.
Close LEB

Job 20
Lexham English Bible

Zophar’s Second Speech

20 Then[a] Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,

2 “Therefore my disquieting thoughts bring me back
for the sake of[b] my inward excitement.[c]
3 I hear discipline that insults me,
and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me.
4 “Did you[d] know this from of old,
since the setting of the human being on earth,
5 that the rejoicing of the wicked is short,[e]
and the joy of the godless lasts only a moment?[f]
6 Even though his stature mounts up to the heaven,
and his head reaches to the clouds,
7 he will perish forever like his dung;
those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8 He will fly away like a dream, and they will not find him,
and he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
9 The eye that saw him will not see him again,[g]
and his place will no longer behold him.
10 His children will seek favors from the poor,
and his hands will return his wealth.
11 His bones were full of his vigor,
but[h] it will lie down with him on[i] the dust.
12 “Though wickedness tastes sweet in his mouth,
and he hides it under his tongue,
13 though he spares it and does not let it go
and holds it back in the midst of his palate,
14 in his bowels his food is turned,
the venom of horned vipers is within him.[j]
15 He swallows riches, but[k] he vomits them[l] up;
God drives them[m] out from his stomach.
16 He will suck the poison of horned vipers;
the viper’s tongue will kill him.
17 He will not enjoy the streams,[n]
the torrents of honey and curds.
18 Returning the products of his toil, he will not swallow;[o]
according to the profit of his trade, he will not enjoy,[p]
19 for he has oppressed; he has abandoned the poor;
he has seized a house but[q] did not build it.
20 Because he has not known satisfaction in his stomach,
he lets nothing escape that he desires.[r]
21 There is nothing left after he has eaten;[s]
therefore his prosperity will not endure.
22 In the fullness of his excess he will be in distress;[t]
all of misery’s power will come upon him.
23 When his stomach fills up,[u] God will send his burning anger[v] upon him,
and he will let it rain down upon him[w] as his food.
24 “He will flee from an iron weapon,
but an arrow of bronze will pierce him.
25 He draws it forth, and it comes out from his body,
and the glittering point comes from his gall-bladder;
terrors come upon him.
26 Total darkness[x] is hidden for his treasures;[y]
an unfanned fire[z] will devour him;
the remnant[aa] will be consumed[ab] in his tent.
27 The heavens will reveal his guilt,
and the earth will rise up against him.
28 The products of his house will be carried away[ac]
like gushing waters[ad] on the day of his wrath.
29 This is a wicked human being’s portion from God
and the inheritance of his decree from God.”[ae]

Footnotes

  1. Job 20:1 Hebrew “And”
  2. Job 20:2 Literally “and in because of”
  3. Job 20:2 Or “my inward haste”
  4. Job 20:4 Singular
  5. Job 20:5 Literally “from near”
  6. Job 20:5 Literally “is until a moment”
  7. Job 20:9 Literally “and it will not do again”
  8. Job 20:11 Hebrew “and”
  9. Job 20:11 Or “in”
  10. Job 20:14 Literally “in his entrails”
  11. Job 20:15 Hebrew “and”
  12. Job 20:15 Hebrew “it”
  13. Job 20:15 Hebrew “it”
  14. Job 20:17 Literally “He will not look on streams”
  15. Job 20:18 Hebrew “and he will not swallow”
  16. Job 20:18 Literally “and he will not taste”
  17. Job 20:19 Or “and”
  18. Job 20:20 Literally “in his desire he does not let be saved”
  19. Job 20:21 Literally “There is not a remnant at his eating”
  20. Job 20:22 Literally “it will be in distress for him”
  21. Job 20:23 Literally “It will be to fill up his stomach”
  22. Job 20:23 Literally “the blaze of his nose/anger”
  23. Job 20:23 Or “them”
  24. Job 20:26 Literally “All darkness”
  25. Job 20:26 Or “His treasures are hidden by total darkness”
  26. Job 20:26 Literally “a fire not fanned”
  27. Job 20:26 Of his treasures
  28. Job 20:26 Literally “will be evil,” or “will be bad”
  29. Job 20:28 Or “the produce of his house will go away into exile”
  30. Job 20:28 Or “by gushing waters”
  31. Job 20:29 Or “and the inheritance decreed for him by God” (compare ESV, NJPS)
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Lexham English Bible (LEB)

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