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Destruction Awaits the Wicked

“Haven’t you known this from ancient times,
    since mankind was placed on the earth?
The wicked triumph only briefly;
    the joy of the godless is momentary.
Though he grow as tall as the sky,
    or though his head touches the clouds,
he’ll perish forever, like his own excrement;
    those who saw him will ask, ‘Where is he?’
He’ll vanish[a] like a dream, and no one will find him;
    he will be chased away like a night vision.”

“An eye that gazes at him won’t do so again;
    and his place won’t even recognize him.
10 His sons will make amends to the poor;
    their hands will return his wealth.
11 Though his bones were full of youthful vigor;
    yet they will lie down with him in the dust.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 20:8 Lit. He’ll fly away

“Did you[a] know this from of old,
since the setting of the human being on earth,
that the rejoicing of the wicked is short,[b]
and the joy of the godless lasts only a moment?[c]
Even though his stature mounts up to the heaven,
and his head reaches to the clouds,
he will perish forever like his dung;
those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
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.
The eye that saw him will not see him again,[d]
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[e] it will lie down with him on[f] the dust.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 20:4 Singular
  2. Job 20:5 Literally “from near”
  3. Job 20:5 Literally “is until a moment”
  4. Job 20:9 Literally “and it will not do again”
  5. Job 20:11 Hebrew “and”
  6. Job 20:11 Or “in”