20:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite responded,
20:2 “Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me ①respond,
Even because of my ②inward agitation.
▷ ①Lit return ②Lit haste within me
20:3 I listened to the reprimand which insults me,
And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.
20:4 Do you know this from ancient times,
From the establishment of mankind on earth,
20:5 That the rejoicing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the godless momentary?
20:6 Though his arrogance ①reaches the heavens,
And his head touches the clouds,
▷ ①Lit goes up to
20:7 He perishes forever like his refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
20:8 He flies away like a dream, and they cannot find him;
Like a vision of the night he is chased away.
20:9 The eye which saw him sees him no longer,
And his place no longer beholds him.
20:10 His sons ①favor the poor,
And his hands give back his wealth.
▷ ①Or seek the favor of
20:11 His bones are full of his youthful strength,
But it lies down with him ①in the dust.
▷ ①Lit on
20:12 “Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth
And he hides it under his tongue,
20:13 Though he ①desires it and will not let it go,
But holds it in his ②mouth,
▷ ①Lit spares it ②Lit palate
20:14 Yet his food in his stomach is changed
To the ①venom of cobras within him.
▷ ①Lit gall
20:15 He swallows riches,
But will vomit them up;
God will expel them from his belly.
20:16 He sucks the poison of cobras;
The viper’s tongue kills him.
20:17 He does not look at the streams,
The rivers flowing with honey and curds.
20:18 He returns the product of his labor
And cannot swallow it;
As to the riches of his trading,
He cannot even enjoy them.
20:19 For he has oppressed and neglected the poor;
He has seized a house which he has not built.
20:20 “Because he knew no quiet ①within him,
He does not retain anything he desires.
▷ ①Lit in his belly
20:21 Nothing remains ①for him to devour,
Therefore his prosperity does not endure.
▷ ①Or of what he devours
20:22 In the fullness of his excess he will be cramped;
The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.
20:23 When he fills his belly,
God will send His fierce anger on him
And rain it on him ①while he is eating.
▷ ①Or as his food
20:24 He may flee from the iron weapon,
But the bronze bow will pierce him.
20:25 It is drawn and comes out of his back,
Even the flashing point from his gallbladder;
Terrors come upon him,
20:26 Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures,
And unfanned fire will devour him;
It will consume the survivor in his tent.
20:27 The heavens will reveal his guilt,
And the earth will rise up against him.
20:28 The increase of his house will disappear;
His possessions will flow away on the day of His anger.
20:29 This is a wicked person’s portion from God,
The inheritance decreed to him by God.”