Job 20–21

Zophar

20Then Zophar the Naamathite^p replied:

²“My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer

because I am greatly disturbed.^q

³I hear a rebuke^r that dishonors me,

and my understanding inspires me to reply.

⁴“Surely you know how it has been from of old,^s

ever since mankind^a was placed on the earth,

⁵that the mirth of the wicked^t is brief,

the joy of the godless^u lasts but a moment.^v

⁶Though the pride^w of the godless person reaches to the heavens^x

and his head touches the clouds,^y

⁷he will perish forever,^z like his own dung;

those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’^a

⁸Like a dream^b he flies away,^c no more to be found,

banished^d like a vision of the night.^e

⁹The eye that saw him will not see him again;

his place will look on him no more.^f

¹⁰His children^g must make amends to the poor;

his own hands must give back his wealth.^h

¹¹The youthful vigorⁱ that fills his bones^j

will lie with him in the dust.^k

¹²“Though evil^l is sweet in his mouth

and he hides it under his tongue,^m

¹³though he cannot bear to let it go

and lets it linger in his mouth,ⁿ

¹⁴yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;^o

it will become the venom of serpents^p within him.

¹⁵He will spit out the riches^q he swallowed;

God will make his stomach vomit^r them up.

¹⁶He will suck the poison^s of serpents;

the fangs of an adder will kill him.^t

¹⁷He will not enjoy the streams,

the rivers^u flowing with honey^v and cream.^w

¹⁸What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;^x

he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.^y

¹⁹For he has oppressed the poor^z and left them destitute;^a

he has seized houses^b he did not build.

²⁰“Surely he will have no respite from his craving;^c

he cannot save himself by his treasure.^d

²¹Nothing is left for him to devour;

his prosperity will not endure.^e

²²In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;^f

the full force of misery will come upon him.^g

²³When he has filled his belly,^h

God will vent his burning angerⁱ against him

and rain down his blows on him.^j

²⁴Though he flees^k from an iron weapon,

a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.^l

²⁵He pulls it out of his back,

the gleaming point out of his liver.

Terrors^m will come over him;ⁿ

²⁶total darkness^o lies in wait for his treasures.

A fire^p unfanned will consume him^q

and devour what is left in his tent.^r

²⁷The heavens will expose his guilt;

the earth will rise up against him.^s

²⁸A flood will carry off his house,^t

rushing waters^b on the day of God’s wrath.^u

²⁹Such is the fate God allots the wicked,

the heritage appointed for them by God.”^v

Job

21Then Job replied:

²“Listen carefully to my words;^w

let this be the consolation you give me.^x

³Bear with me while I speak,

and after I have spoken, mock on.^y

⁴“Is my complaint^z directed to a human being?

Why should I not be impatient?^a

⁵Look at me and be appalled;

clap your hand over your mouth.^b

⁶When I think about this, I am terrified;^c

trembling seizes my body.^d

⁷Why do the wicked live on,

growing old and increasing in power?^e

⁸They see their children established around them,

their offspring before their eyes.^f

⁹Their homes are safe and free from fear;^g

the rod of God is not on them.^h

¹⁰Their bulls never fail to breed;

their cows calve and do not miscarry.ⁱ

¹¹They send forth their children as a flock;^j

their little ones dance about.

¹²They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;^k

they make merry to the sound of the pipe.^l

¹³They spend their years in prosperity^m

and go down to the graveⁿ in peace.^ao

¹⁴Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!^p

We have no desire to know your ways.^q

¹⁵Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?

What would we gain by praying to him?’^r

¹⁶But their prosperity is not in their own hands,

so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.^s

¹⁷“Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?^t

How often does calamity^u come upon them,

the fate God allots in his anger?^v

¹⁸How often are they like straw before the wind,

like chaff^w swept away^x by a gale?^y

¹⁹It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’^z

Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!^a

²⁰Let their own eyes see their destruction;^b

let them drink^c the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.^d

²¹For what do they care about the families they leave behind^e

when their allotted months^f come to an end?^g

²²“Can anyone teach knowledge to God,^h

since he judges even the highest?ⁱ

²³One person dies in full vigor,^j

completely secure and at ease,^k

²⁴well nourished^l in body,^b

bones^m rich with marrow.ⁿ

²⁵Another dies in bitterness of soul,^o

never having enjoyed anything good.

²⁶Side by side they lie in the dust,^p

and worms^q cover them both.^r

²⁷“I know full well what you are thinking,

the schemes by which you would wrong me.

²⁸You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,^s

the tents where the wicked lived?’^t

²⁹Have you never questioned those who travel?

Have you paid no regard to their accounts—

³⁰that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,^u

that they are delivered from^c the day of wrath?^v

³¹Who denounces their conduct to their face?

Who repays them for what they have done?^w

³²They are carried to the grave,

and watch is kept over their tombs.^x

³³The soil in the valley is sweet to them;^y

everyone follows after them,

and a countless throng goes^d before them.^z

³⁴“So how can you console me^a with your nonsense?

Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”^b