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)
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.
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.
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.
