Add parallel Print Page Options

12 “Though wickedness is sweet in their mouth,
    though they hide it under their tongues,(A)
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.(B)
17 They will not look on the rivers,
    the streams flowing with honey and curds.(C)
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.(D)
19 For they have crushed and abandoned the poor;
    they have seized a house that they did not build.(E)

Read full chapter

12 Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth,
    though he conceals it under his tongue,
13 though he savors it and delays swallowing it
    so he can taste it again and again in his mouth,[a]
14 his food will turn rancid in his stomach—
    it will become a cobra’s poison inside him.

15 “Though he swallows wealth, he will vomit it;
    God will dislodge it from his stomach.
16 He will suck the poison of cobras;
    the fangs[b] of a viper will slay him.
17 He won’t look at the rivers—
    the torrents of honey and curd.[c]

18 “He will restore what he has attained from his work
    and won’t consume it;
        he won’t enjoy the profits from his business transactions,
19 because he has crushed and abandoned the poor;
    he has seized a house that he didn’t build.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Job 20:13 Lit. can hold it in the middle of his palate
  2. Job 20:16 Or tongue
  3. Job 20:17 Or butter