Job 20
Holman 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 man 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 bones may be full of youthful vigor,
but will lie down with him in the grave.(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 cream.(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 man’s lot(U) from God,
the inheritance God ordained for him.
Footnotes
- Job 20:2 Lit because of my feeling within me
- Job 20:3 Lit and a spirit from my understanding
- Job 20:7 Lit have seen
- Job 20:10 Or children must compensate
- Job 20:16 Lit tongue
- Job 20:20 Lit Because he does not know ease in his stomach
- Job 20:22 Lit In the fullness of his excess
- Job 20:22 Some Hb mss, LXX, Vg; other Hb mss read the hand of everyone in misery
- Job 20:23 Text emended; MT reads him, against his flesh
- Job 20:25 Or gallbladder
Job 20
International Children’s Bible
Zophar Answers
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2 “My troubled thoughts cause me to answer.
I am very upset.
3 I hear you criticize, and I am insulted.
But I understand how to answer you.
4 “You know how it has been for a long time.
It has been this way since man was put on the earth.
5 The happiness of an evil person is very short.
The joy of a person without God lasts only a moment.
6 His pride may be as high as the heavens.
His head may touch the clouds.
7 But he will be gone forever, like his own dung.
People who knew him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8 He will fly away like a dream.
He will not be found again.
He will be chased away like a vision in the night.
9 Those who saw him will not see him again.
The place where he lived will see him no more.
10 His children will have to make up for how he mistreated the poor.
He will have to give his wealth back with his own hands.
11 He has the strength of his youth in his bones.
But it will lie with him in the dust of death.
12 “Evil may taste sweet in the evil person’s mouth.
He may hide it under his tongue.
13 He cannot stand to let go of it.
So he keeps it in his mouth.
14 But his food will turn sour in his stomach.
It will be like the poison of a snake inside him.
15 He has swallowed riches, but he will spit them out.
God will make the evil person’s stomach vomit them up.
16 He will suck the poison of snakes.
The snake’s poisonous fangs will kill him.
17 He will not admire the sparkling streams
or the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
18 He must give back what he worked for without eating it.
He will not enjoy the money he made from his trading.
19 This is because he has troubled the poor people and left them with nothing.
He has taken houses he did not build.
20 “The evil person has no rest from his desire.
Nothing escapes his selfishness.
21 But nothing will be left for him to eat.
His riches will not continue.
22 When he still has plenty, trouble will catch up to him.
Great misery will come down on him.
23 The evil person may eat until his stomach is full.
But then God will send his burning anger against him.
God will send blows of punishment down on him like rain.
24 The evil person may run away from an iron weapon.
But then a bronze arrow will stab him.
25 He will pull the arrow out of his back.
He will pull its point out of his liver.
Terrors will come over him.
26 Total darkness waits for his treasure.
A fire not fanned by people will destroy him.
That fire will burn up what is left of his tent.
27 The heavens will show his guilt.
The earth will rise up against him.
28 A flood will carry his house away.
The rushing waters will come on the day of God’s anger.
29 This is what God plans for evil people.
This is what he has decided they will receive.”
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
