Zophar Speaks: The Wicked Will Suffer

20 Then (A)Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

“Therefore my (B)thoughts answer me,
    because of my haste within me.
I hear censure that insults me,
    and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.
Do you not know this from of old,
    (C)since man was placed on earth,
(D)that the exulting of the wicked is short,
    and the joy of the godless but for a moment?
(E)Though his height mount up to the heavens,
    and his head reach to the clouds,
he will perish forever like his own (F)dung;
    those who have seen him will say, (G)‘Where is he?’
He will fly away like (H)a dream and not be found;
    he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
(I)The eye that saw him will see him no more,
    nor will his place any more behold him.
10 His children will seek the favor of the poor,
    and his hands will (J)give back his wealth.
11 His bones are full of his (K)youthful vigor,
    but it will lie (L)down with him in the dust.

12 “Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
    though he hides it (M)under his tongue,
13 though he is loath to let it go
    and holds it in his mouth,
14 yet his food is turned in his stomach;
    it is the venom of (N)cobras within him.
15 He swallows down riches and vomits them up again;
    God casts them out of his belly.
16 He will suck the poison of cobras;
    (O)the tongue of a viper will kill him.
17 He will not look upon (P)the rivers,
    the streams flowing with (Q)honey and (R)curds.
18 He will (S)give back the fruit of his toil
    and will not (T)swallow it down;
from the profit of his trading
    he will get no enjoyment.
19 For he has crushed and abandoned the poor;
    he has seized a house that he did not build.

20 “Because he (U)knew no (V)contentment in his belly,
    (W)he will not let anything in which he delights escape him.
21 There was nothing left after he had eaten;
    therefore his prosperity will not endure.
22 In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress;
    the hand of everyone in misery will come against him.
23 To fill his belly to the full,
    God[a] will send his burning anger against him
    and rain it upon him (X)into his body.
24 (Y)He will flee from an iron weapon;
    (Z)a bronze arrow will strike (AA)him through.
25 It (AB)is drawn forth and comes out of his body;
    (AC)the glittering point comes out of his (AD)gallbladder;
    (AE)terrors come upon him.
26 Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures;
    (AF)a fire not fanned will devour him;
    what is left in his tent will be consumed.
27 (AG)The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
    and the earth will rise up against him.
28 The possessions of his house will be carried away,
    dragged off in the day of God's[b] wrath.
29 (AH)This is the wicked man's portion from God,
    (AI)the heritage decreed for him by God.”

Job Replies: The Wicked Do Prosper

21 Then Job answered and said:

(AJ)“Keep listening to my words,
    and let this be your comfort.
Bear with me, and I will speak,
    and after I have spoken, (AK)mock on.
As for me, is my (AL)complaint against man?
    Why should I not be impatient?
Look at me and be appalled,
    and (AM)lay your hand over your mouth.
When I remember, I am dismayed,
    and shuddering seizes my flesh.
(AN)Why do the wicked live,
    reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
Their (AO)offspring are established in their presence,
    and their descendants before their eyes.
Their houses are (AP)safe from fear,
    and (AQ)no rod of God is upon them.
10 Their bull breeds without fail;
    their cow calves and (AR)does not miscarry.
11 They send out their (AS)little boys like a flock,
    and their children dance.
12 They sing to (AT)the tambourine and (AU)the lyre
    and rejoice to the sound of (AV)the pipe.
13 They (AW)spend their days in prosperity,
    and in (AX)peace they go down to (AY)Sheol.
14 They say to God, (AZ)‘Depart from us!
    We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
15 (BA)What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
    And what (BB)profit do we get if we pray to him?’
16 Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?
    (BC)The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

17 “How often is it that (BD)the lamp of the wicked is put out?
    That their calamity comes upon them?
    That God[c] distributes pains in his anger?
18 That they are like (BE)straw before the wind,
    and like (BF)chaff that the storm carries away?
19 You say, ‘God (BG)stores up their iniquity for their (BH)children.’
    Let him pay it out to them, that they may (BI)know it.
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction,
    and let them (BJ)drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what do they care for their houses after them,
    when (BK)the number of their months is cut off?
22 (BL)Will any teach God knowledge,
    seeing that he (BM)judges those who are on high?
23 One dies in his full vigor,
    being wholly at ease and secure,
24 his pails[d] full of milk
    and (BN)the marrow of his bones moist.
25 Another dies in (BO)bitterness of soul,
    never having tasted of prosperity.
26 They (BP)lie down alike in the dust,
    and (BQ)the worms cover them.

27 “Behold, I know your thoughts
    and your schemes to wrong me.
28 For you say, (BR)‘Where is the house of the prince?
    Where is (BS)the tent in which the wicked lived?’
29 Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
    and do you not accept their testimony
30 that (BT)the evil man is spared in the day of calamity,
    that he is rescued in the day of wrath?
31 Who declares his way (BU)to his face,
    and who (BV)repays him for what he has done?
32 When he is (BW)carried to the grave,
    watch is kept over his tomb.
33 (BX)The clods of the valley are sweet to him;
    (BY)all mankind follows after him,
    and those who go before him are innumerable.
34 How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
    There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 20:23 Hebrew he
  2. Job 20:28 Hebrew his
  3. Job 21:17 Hebrew he
  4. Job 21:24 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

20 (A)Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. 21 Were you a bondservant[a] when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) 22 For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is (B)a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is (C)a bondservant of Christ. 23 (D)You were bought with a price; (E)do not become bondservants of men. 24 So, brothers,[b] (F)in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

The Unmarried and the Widowed

25 Now concerning[c] the betrothed,[d] (G)I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as (H)one who by the Lord's mercy is (I)trustworthy. 26 I think that in view of the present[e] distress (J)it is good for a person to remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman[f] marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. 29 This is what I mean, brothers: (K)the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy (L)as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For (M)the present form of this world is passing away.

32 I want you to be (N)free from anxieties. (O)The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, (P)not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

36 If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed,[g] if his[h] passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. 37 But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. 38 So then he who marries his betrothed (Q)does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

39 (R)A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only (S)in the Lord. 40 Yet (T)in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think (U)that I too have the Spirit of God.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 7:21 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; also verses 22 (twice), 23
  2. 1 Corinthians 7:24 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 29
  3. 1 Corinthians 7:25 The expression Now concerning introduces a reply to a question in the Corinthians' letter; see 7:1
  4. 1 Corinthians 7:25 Greek virgins
  5. 1 Corinthians 7:26 Or impending
  6. 1 Corinthians 7:28 Greek virgin; also verse 34
  7. 1 Corinthians 7:36 Greek virgin; also verses 37, 38
  8. 1 Corinthians 7:36 Or her

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