Job 20

CHAPTER 20

Zophar Says the Joy of the Wicked Is Short

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,

²“Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me ¹respond,

Even because of my haste within me.

³“I listened to ^athe discipline which dishonors me,

And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.

⁴“Do you know this from ^aof old,

From the establishment of man on earth,

⁵That the ^ashouts of joy of the wicked are short,

And ^bthe gladness of the godless momentary?

⁶“Though his loftiness ^agoes up to the heavens,

And his head touches the clouds,

⁷He ^aperishes forever like his refuse;

Those who have seen him ^bwill say, ‘Where is he?’

⁸“He flies away like a ^adream, and they cannot find him;

Even like a vision of the night he is ^bchased away.

⁹“The ^aeye which saw him sees him no longer,

And ^bhis place no longer beholds him.

¹⁰“His ^asons seek the favor of the poor,

And his hands ^bgive back his wealth.

¹¹“His ^abones are full of his youthful vigor,

But it lies down with him ¹in the dust.

¹²“Though ^aevil is sweet in his mouth

And he hides it under his tongue,

¹³Though he ¹desires it and will not forsake it,

And holds it ^ato his palate,

¹⁴Yet his food in his stomach is changed

To the ¹venom of cobras within him.

¹⁵“He swallows up wealth,

But will ^avomit it up;

God will expel it from his belly.

¹⁶“He sucks ^athe poison of cobras;

The viper’s tongue kills him.

¹⁷“He does not look at ^athe streams,

The rivers flowing with honey and curds.

¹⁸“He ^areturns what he has attained

And cannot swallow it;

As to the wealth of his trading,

He cannot even enjoy it.

¹⁹“For he has ^acrushed and forsaken the poor;

He has seized a house which he has not built.

²⁰“Because he knew no ease within his belly,

In his covetousness, he does ^anot let anything escape.

²¹“Nothing remains ¹for him to devour;

Therefore ^ahis prosperity does not endure.

²²“In the fullness of his plenty he will be confined;

The ^ahand of everyone who is troubled will come against him.

²³“So it will be that he ^afills his belly,

And God will send His burning anger on him

And will ^brain it on him ¹while he is eating.

²⁴“He may ^aflee from the iron weapon,

But the bronze bow will pierce him.

²⁵“It is drawn forth and comes out of his back,

Even the glittering point from ^ahis gall;

^bBouts of dread come upon him.

²⁶Complete ^adarkness is held in reserve for his treasures;

A ^bfire unfanned will devour him;

It will consume the survivor in his tent.

²⁷“The ^aheavens will reveal his iniquity,

And the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸“The ^aincrease of his house will depart;

His possessions will flow away ^bin the day of His anger.

²⁹“This is the wicked man’s ^aportion from God,

Even the inheritance decreed to him by God.”