Job 20–21

Zophar’s Sermon on the Wicked Man

20Then ^aZophar the Naamathite answered and said:

²“Therefore my anxious thoughts make me answer,

Because of the turmoil within me.

³I have heard the rebuke ¹that reproaches me,

And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer.

⁴“Do you not know this of ^bold,

Since man was placed on earth,

^5cThat the triumphing of the wicked is short,

And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a ^dmoment?

^6eThough his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens,

And his head reaches to the clouds,

⁷Yet he will perish forever like his own refuse;

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

⁸He will fly away ^flike a dream, and not be found;

Yes, he ^gwill be chased away like a vision of the night.

⁹The eye that saw him will see him no more,

Nor will his place behold him anymore.

¹⁰His children will seek the favor of the poor,

And his hands will restore his wealth.

¹¹His bones are full of ^hhis youthful vigor,

ⁱBut it will lie down with him in the dust.

¹²“Though evil is sweet in his mouth,

And he hides it under his tongue,

¹³Though he spares it and does not forsake it,

But still keeps it in his ²mouth,

¹⁴Yet his food in his stomach turns sour;

It becomes cobra venom within him.

¹⁵He swallows down riches

And vomits them up again;

God casts them out of his belly.

¹⁶He will suck the poison of cobras;

The viper’s tongue will slay him.

¹⁷He will not see ^jthe streams,

The rivers flowing with honey and cream.

¹⁸He will restore that for which he labored,

And will not swallow it down;

From the proceeds of business

He will get no enjoyment.

¹⁹For he has ³oppressed and forsaken the poor,

He has violently seized a house which he did not build.

²⁰“Because ^khe knows no quietness in his ⁴heart,

He will not save anything he desires.

²¹Nothing is left for him to eat;

Therefore his well-being will not last.

²²In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress;

Every hand of ⁵misery will come against him.

²³When he is about to fill his stomach,

God will cast on him the fury of His wrath,

And will rain it on him while he is eating.

^24lHe will flee from the iron weapon;

A bronze bow will pierce him through.

²⁵It is drawn, and comes out of the body;

Yes, ^mthe glittering point comes out of his ⁶gall.

ⁿTerrors come upon him;

²⁶Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.

^oAn unfanned fire will consume him;

It shall go ill with him who is left in his tent.

²⁷The heavens will reveal his iniquity,

And the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸The increase of his house will depart,

And his goods will flow away in the day of His ^pwrath.

^29qThis is the portion from God for a wicked man,

The heritage appointed to him by God.”

Job’s Discourse on the Wicked

21Then Job answered and said:

²“Listen carefully to my speech,

And let this be your ¹consolation.

³Bear with me that I may speak,

And after I have spoken, keep ^amocking.

⁴“As for me, is my complaint against man?

And if it were, why should I not be impatient?

⁵Look at me and be astonished;

^bPut your hand over your mouth.

⁶Even when I remember I am terrified,

And trembling takes hold of my flesh.

^7cWhy do the wicked live and become old,

Yes, become mighty in power?

⁸Their descendants are established with them in their sight,

And their offspring before their eyes.

⁹Their houses are safe from fear,

^dNeither is ²the rod of God upon them.

¹⁰Their bull breeds without failure;

Their cow calves ^ewithout miscarriage.

¹¹They send forth their little ones like a flock,

And their children dance.

¹²They sing to the tambourine and harp,

And rejoice to the sound of the flute.

¹³They ^fspend their days in wealth,

And ³in a moment go down to the ⁴grave.

^14gYet they say to God, ‘Depart from us,

For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.

^15hWho is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?

And ⁱwhat profit do we have if we pray to Him?’

¹⁶Indeed ⁵their prosperity is not in their hand;

^jThe counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁷“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?

How often does their destruction come upon them,

The sorrows God ^kdistributes in His anger?

^18lThey are like straw before the wind,

And like chaff that a storm ⁶carries away.

¹⁹They say, ‘God ⁷lays up ⁸one’s iniquity ^mfor his children’;

Let Him recompense him, that he may know it.

²⁰Let his eyes see his destruction,

And ⁿlet him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

²¹For what does he care about his household after him,

When the number of his months is cut in half?

²²“Can ^oanyone teach God knowledge,

Since He judges those on high?

²³One dies in his full strength,

Being wholly at ease and secure;

²⁴His ⁹pails are full of milk,

And the marrow of his bones is moist.

²⁵Another man dies in the bitterness of his soul,

Never having eaten with pleasure.

²⁶They ^plie down alike in the dust,

And worms cover them.

²⁷“Look, I know your thoughts,

And the schemes with which you would wrong me.

²⁸For you say,

‘Where is the house of the prince?

And where is ¹the tent,

The dwelling place of the wicked?’

²⁹Have you not asked those who travel the road?

And do you not know their signs?

^30qFor the wicked are reserved for the day of doom;

They shall be brought out on the day of wrath.

³¹Who condemns his way to his face?

And who repays him for what he has done?

³²Yet he shall be brought to the grave,

And a vigil kept over the tomb.

³³The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him;

^rEveryone shall follow him,

As countless have gone before him.

³⁴How then can you comfort me with empty words,

Since ²falsehood remains in your answers?”