Job 20–21

Then answered ^aZophar the Naamathite, and said,

²Therefore do my ^bthoughts cause me to answer,

And for this I make haste.

³I have heard ^cthe check of my reproach,

And the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.

⁴Knowest thou not this ^dof old,

^eSince man was placed upon earth,

^5fThat the ^gtriumphing of the wicked is short,

And the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

^6hThough his excellency mount up to the heavens,

And his head reach unto the clouds;

⁷Yet he shall perish ⁱfor ever ^klike his own dung:

They which have seen him shall say, ^lWhere is he?

⁸He shall fly away ^mas a dream, and shall not be found:

Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.

⁹ⁿThe eye also which saw him ^oshall see him no more;

Neither shall his place any more behold him.

¹⁰His children shall seek to please the poor,

And his hands ^pshall restore their goods.

¹¹His bones are full of the sin of his youth,

Which ^qshall lie down with him in the dust.

¹²Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,

Though he hide it under his tongue;

¹³Though he spare it, and forsake it not;

But keep it still within his mouth:

¹⁴Yet his meat in his bowels is turned,

It is the gall of ^rasps within him.

¹⁵He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again:

God shall cast them out of his belly.

¹⁶He shall suck ^rthe poison of asps:

The ^sviper’s tongue shall slay him.

^17tHe shall not see the rivers,

The floods, the ^ubrooks of ^xhoney and ^xbutter.

¹⁸That which he laboured for ^yshall he restore, and shall not ^zswallow it down:

According to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.

¹⁹Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor;

Because he hath violently taken away a house which he builded not;

²⁰Surely he shall not feel ^aquietness in his belly,

He shall not save of ^bthat which he desired.

²¹There shall none of his meat be left;

Therefore shall no man look for his goods.

²²In the fulness of his ^csufficiency he shall be in straits:

Every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.

²³When he is about to fill his belly,

God shall cast ^dthe fury of his wrath upon him,

And shall rain it upon him ^ewhile he is eating.

^24fHe shall flee from the iron weapon,

And ^gthe bow of steel shall ^hstrike him through.

²⁵ⁱIt is drawn, and cometh out of the body;

Yea, ^jthe glistering sword cometh out of ^khis gall:

^lTerrors are upon him.

^26mAll darkness shall be hid in his ⁿsecret places:

^oA fire not blown shall consume him;

It shall go ill with him that is left in his ^ptabernacle.

²⁷The ^qheaven shall reveal his iniquity;

And ^qthe earth shall rise up against him.

²⁸The increase of his house shall depart,

And his goods shall ^rflow away in the day of his wrath.

^29sThis is the ^tportion of a wicked man from God,

And the heritage appointed unto him by God.

XXI.But Job answered and said,

^2aHear diligently my speech,

And let this be your consolations.

³Suffer me that I may speak;

And after that I have spoken, ^bmock on.

⁴As for me, is my ^ccomplaint to man?

And if it were so, why should not my ^dspirit be troubled?

⁵Mark me, and be astonished,

And ^elay your hand upon your mouth.

⁶Even when I remember I am afraid,

And trembling ^ftaketh hold on my flesh.

^7gWherefore do the wicked live,

Become old, yea, ^hare mighty in power?

⁸Their seed ⁱis established in their sight with them,

And their ^koffspring before their eyes.

⁹Their houses are safe from fear,

Neither is ^lthe rod of God upon them.

¹⁰Their bull gendereth, and faileth not;

Their cow calveth, and ^mcasteth not her calf.

¹¹They ⁿsend forth their little ones like a flock,

And their children dance.

¹²They ^otake the ^ptimbrel and ^qharp,

And rejoice at the sound of the ^rorgan.

¹³They ^sspend their days in wealth,

And ^tin a moment go down to the grave.

¹⁴Therefore ^uthey say unto God, Depart from us;

For ^xwe desire not the knowledge of thy ways.

^15yWhat is the Almighty, that we should serve him?

And ^zwhat profit should we have, if we ^apray unto him?

¹⁶Lo, their good is not in their hand:

^bThe counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁷How oft ^cis the candle of the wicked put out!

And how oft cometh their destruction upon them!

God ^ddistributeth sorrows in his anger.

¹⁸They are as stubble before the wind,

And as ^echaff that the storm carrieth away.

¹⁹God ^eelayeth up his iniquity ^ffor his children:

He rewardeth him, and he shall ^gknow it.

²⁰His eyes shall see his destruction,

And ^hhe shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

²¹For what ⁱpleasure hath he in his house after him,

When ^kthe number of his months is cut off in the midst?

^22lShall any teach God knowledge?

Seeing he judgeth ^mthose that are high.

²³One dieth in his full strength,

Being wholly at ease and quiet.

²⁴His breasts are full of milk,

And ⁿhis bones are moistened with marrow.

²⁵And another dieth ^oin the bitterness of his soul,

And never eateth with ^ppleasure.

²⁶They ^qshall lie down ^ralike in the dust,

And the worms shall cover them.

²⁷Behold, I know your thoughts,

And the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.

²⁸For ye say, ^sWhere is the ^thouse of the prince?

And where are ^tuthe dwelling places of the wicked?

²⁹Have ye not asked them that go by the way?

And do ye not know their tokens,

³⁰That the wicked is ^xreserved to the day of destruction?

They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

³¹Who shall declare his way ^yto his face?

And who shall ^yrepay him what he hath done?

³²Yet shall he be ^zbrought to the grave,

And shall remain in the tomb.

³³The ^aclods of the valley shall be sweet unto him,

And ^bevery man shall draw after him,

As there are innumerable before him.

³⁴How then comfort ye me in vain,

Seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

XXII.