ZOPHAR SPEAKS

20 Then Zophar the Naamathitei replied:

2 This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer,

because I am upset!G

3 I have heard a rebuke that insults me,

and my understandingH makes me reply.j

4 Don’t you know that ever since antiquity,

from the time a human was placed on earth,

5 the joy of the wicked has been brief

and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?k

6 Though his arrogance reaches heaven,

and his head touches the clouds,l

7 he will vanish forever like his own dung.

Those who knowI him will ask, “Where is he?”m

8 He will fly away like a dream and never be found;

he will be chased away like a vision in the night.n

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

and his household will no longer see him.p

10 His children will beg fromJ the poor,

for his own hands must give back his wealth.

11 His frame may be full of youthful vigor,

but it will lie down with him in dust.q

12 Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth

and he conceals it under his tongue,

13 though he cherishes it and will not let it go

but keeps it in his mouth,r

14 yet the food in his stomach turns

into cobras’ venom inside him.

15 He swallows wealth but must vomit it up;

God will force it from his stomach.

16 He will suck the poison of cobras;

a viper’s fangsK will kill him.s

17 He will not enjoy the streams,

the rivers flowing with honey and curds.t

18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;

he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.

19 For he oppressed and abandoned the poor;

he seized a house he did not build.u

20 Because his appetite is never satisfied,L

he does not let anything he desires escape.

21 Nothing is left for him to consume;v

therefore, his prosperity will not last.

22 At the height of his successA distress will come to him;a

the full weight of miseryB will crush him.

23 When he fills his stomach,

God will send his burning anger against him,

rainingb it down on him while he is eating.C

24 If he flees from an iron weapon,

an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him.

25 He pulls it out of his back,

the flashing tip out of his liver.D

Terrors come over him.c

26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.

A fire unfanned by human hands will consumed him;

it will feed on what is left in his tent.

27 The heavens will expose his iniquity,e

and the earth will rise up against him.f

28 The possessions in his house will be removed,

flowing away on the day of God’s anger.

29 This is the wicked person’s lotg from God,

the inheritance God ordained for him.

JOB’S REPLY TO ZOPHAR

21 Then Job answered:

2 Pay close attention to my words;

let this be the consolation you offer.

3 Bear with me while I speak;

then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking.

4 As for me, is my complainth against a human being?

Then why shouldn’t I be impatient?

5 Look at me and shudder;i

put your hand over your mouth.j

6 When I think about it, I am terrified

and my body tremblesk in horror.

7 Why do the wicked continue to live,

growing old and becoming powerful?

8 Their children are established while they are still alive,E

and their descendants, before their eyes.

9 Their homes are secure and free of fear;l

no rod from God strikes them.m

10 Their bulls breed without fail;

their cows calve and do not miscarry.

11 They let their little ones run around like lambs;

their children skip about,

12 singing to the tambourine and lyre

and rejoicing at the sound of the flute.n

13 They spendF their days in prosperityo

and go down to Sheol in peace.

14 Yet they say to God, “Leave us alone!

We don’t want to know your ways.p

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

and what will we gain by pleading with him?”q

16 But their prosperity is not of their own doing.

The counsel of the wicked is far from me!r

17 How often is the lamps of the wicked put out?

Does disasterG come on them?

Does he apportion destruction in his anger?

18 Are they like straw before the wind,

like chafft a storm sweeps away?

19 God reserves a person’s punishment for his children.u

Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it.

20 Let his own eyes see his demise;

let him drink from the Almighty’s wrath!v

21 For what does he care about his family once he is dead,w

when the number of his months has run out?x

22 Can anyone teach God knowledge,y

since he judges the exalted ones?H

23 One person dies in excellent health,I

completely secureJ and at ease.

24 His body isK well fed,L

and his bones are full of marrow.M

25 Yet another person dies with a bittera soul,

having never tasted prosperity.

26 But they both lie in the dust,

and worms cover them.b

27 I know your thoughts very well,

the schemes by which you would wrong me.

28 For you say, “Where now is the nobleman’s house?”

and “Where are the tentsc the wicked lived in?”

29 Have you never consulted those who travel the roads?

Don’t you accept their reports?A

30 Indeed, the evil person is spared from the day of disaster,

rescued from the day of wrath.

31 Who would denounce his behavior to his face?

Who would repayd him for what he has done?

32 He is carried to the grave,

and someone keeps watch over his tomb.

33 The dirt on his grave isB sweet to him.

Everyone follows behind him,

and those who go before him are without number.

34 So how can you offer me such futile comfort?

Your answers are deceptive.

THIRD SERIES OF SPEECHES

ELIPHAZ SPEAKS

22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 Can a man be of any use to God?

Can even a wise man be of use to him?

3 Does it delight the Almighty if you are righteous?

Does he profit if you perfect your behavior?e

4 Does he correct you and take you to court

because of your piety?f

5 Isn’t your wickedness abundant

and aren’t your iniquities endless?

6 For you took collateralg from your brothers without cause,

stripping off their clothes and leaving them naked.

7 You gave no water to the thirsty

and withheld food from the famished,h

8 while the land belonged to a powerful man

and an influential man lived on it.

9 You sent widows away empty-handed,

and the strength of the fatherlessi wasC crushed.

10 Therefore snares surround you,

and sudden dread terrifiesj you,

11 or darkness, so you cannot see,

and a flood of water covers you.k

12 Isn’t God as high as the heavens?

And look at the highest stars—how lofty they are!

13 Yet you say, “What does God know?

Can he judge through total darkness?l

14 Cloudsm veil him so that he cannot see,

as he walks on the circle of the sky.”

15 Will you continue on the ancient path

that wicked men have walked?

16 They were snatched away before their time,

and their foundationsn were washed away by a river.

17 They were the ones who said to God, “Leave us alone!”

and “What can the Almighty do to us?”D,o

18 But it was he who filled their houses with good things.

The counsel of the wicked is far from me!

19 The righteous see this and rejoice;

the innocent mock them, saying,p

20 “Surely our opponents are destroyed,

and fire has consumed what they left behind.”q

21 Come to terms with God and be at peace;r

in this wayE good will come to you.

22 Receive instruction from his mouth,s

and place his sayingst in your heart.

23 If you returnu to the Almighty, you will be renewed.

If you banish injustice from your tent

24 and consign your gold to the dust,

the gold of Ophira to the stones in the wadis,

25 the Almighty will be your gold

and your finest silver.

26 Then you will delightb in the Almighty

and lift up your face to God.c

27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,d

and you will fulfill your vows.

28 When you make a decision, it will be carried out,A

and light will shine on your ways.e

29 When others are humiliated and you say, “Lift them up,”

God will save the humble.B,f

30 He will even rescue the guilty one,

who will be rescued by the purity of your hands.g