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12 “Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth,
    though he hide it under his tongue,
13 though he spare it, and will not let it go,
    but keep it still within his mouth;
14 yet his food in his bowels is turned.
    It is cobra venom within him.
15 He has swallowed down riches, and he will vomit them up again.
    God will cast them out of his belly.
16 He will suck cobra venom.
    The viper’s tongue will kill him.
17 He will not look at the rivers,
    the flowing streams of honey and butter.
18 He will restore that for which he labored, and will not swallow it down.
    He will not rejoice according to the substance that he has gotten.
19 For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor.
    He has violently taken away a house, and he will not build it up.

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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,(A)
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[a] will kill him.(B)
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and cream.(C)
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.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 20:16 Lit tongue