Job 20–21

Chapter 20

¹And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said, ²Therefore do my thoughts give me an answer, and for this is my haste within me. ³I hear a reproof putting me to shame; and my spirit answereth me by mine understanding. ⁴Knowest thou not this, that of old, since man was placed upon earth, ⁵The exultation of the wicked is short, and the joy of the ungodly man but for a moment? ⁶Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds, ⁷Like his own dung doth he perish for ever; they which have seen him shall say, Where is he? ⁸He flieth away as a dream, and is not found; and is chased away as a vision of the night. ⁹The eye which saw him shall see him not again; and his place beholdeth him no more.

¹⁰His children shall seek the favour of the poor, and his hands restore his wealth. ¹¹His bones were full of his youthful strength; but it shall lie down with him in the dust. ¹²Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth and he hide it under his tongue, ¹³Though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it within his mouth, ¹⁴His food is turned in his bowels; it is the gall of asps within him. ¹⁵He hath swallowed down riches, but he shall vomit them up again: •God shall cast them out of his belly. ¹⁶He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper’s tongue shall kill him. ¹⁷He shall not see streams, rivers, brooks of honey and butter. ¹⁸That which he laboured for shall he restore, and not swallow down; its restitution shall be according to the value, and he shall not rejoice therein. ¹⁹For he hath oppressed, hath forsaken the poor; he hath violently taken away a house that he did not build. ²⁰Because he knew no rest in his craving, he shall save nought of what he most desired. ²¹Nothing escaped his greediness; therefore his prosperity shall not endure. ²²In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits; every hand of the wretched shall come upon him.

²³It shall be that, to fill his belly, he will cast his fierce anger upon him, and will rain it upon him into his flesh. ²⁴If he have fled from the iron weapon, the bow of brass shall strike him through. ²⁵He draweth it forth; it cometh out of his body, and the glittering point out of his gall: terrors are upon him. ²⁶All darkness is laid up for his treasures: a fire not blown shall devour him; it shall feed upon what is left in his tent. ²⁷The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him. ²⁸The increase of his house shall depart, flowing away in the day of his anger. ²⁹This is the portion of the wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by •God.

Chapter 21

¹And Job answered and said, ²Hear attentively my speech, and let this replace your consolations. ³Suffer me and I will speak; and after I have spoken, mock on! ⁴As for me, is my complaint to a man? or wherefore should not my spirit be impatient? ⁵Mark me, and be astonished, and lay the hand upon the mouth. ⁶Even when I think thereon, I am affrighted, and trembling taketh hold of my flesh.

⁷Wherefore do the wicked live, grow old, yea, become mighty in power? ⁸Their seed is established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes. ⁹Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of †God upon them. ¹⁰Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. ¹¹They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. ¹²They shout to the tambour and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe. ¹³They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment go down to Sheol. ¹⁴And they say unto •God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways! ¹⁵What is the Almighty that we should serve him? and what are we profited if we pray unto him? ¹⁶Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked be far from me!

¹⁷How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, and cometh their calamity upon them? Doth he distribute sorrows to them in his anger? ¹⁸Do they become as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away? ¹⁹†God layeth up the punishment of his iniquity for his children; he rewardeth him, and he shall know it: ²⁰His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the fury of the Almighty. ²¹For what pleasure should he have in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off? ²²Can any teach •God knowledge? And he it is that judgeth those that are high. ²³One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet; ²⁴His sides are full of fat, and the marrow of his bones is moistened; ²⁵And another dieth in bitterness of soul, and hath not tasted good: ²⁶Together they lie down in the dust, and the worms cover them.

²⁷Lo, I know your thoughts, and the devices ye wrongfully imagine against me. ²⁸For ye say, Where is the house of the noble? and where the tent of the dwellings of the wicked? ²⁹Have ye not asked the wayfarers? and do ye not regard their tokens: ³⁰That the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity? They are led forth to the day of wrath. ³¹Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? ³²Yet is he carried to the graves, and watch is kept over the tomb. ³³The clods of the valley are sweet unto him; and every man followeth suit after him, as there were innumerable before him. ³⁴How then comfort ye me in vain? Your answers remain perfidious.