Job 20 — AAB

Zophar: Destruction Awaits the Wicked

20Verse 1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:^{Verse 2}“So my anxious thoughts compel me to answer,because of the turmoil within me.^{Verse 3}I have heard a rebuke that insults me,and my understanding prompts a reply.^{Verse 4}Do you not know that from antiquity,since man was placed on the earth,^{Verse 5}the triumph of the wicked has been briefand the joy of the godless momentary?^{Verse 6}Though his arrogance reaches the heavens,and his head touches the clouds,^{Verse 7}he will perish forever, like his own dung;those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’^{Verse 8}He will fly away like a dream, never to be found;he will be chased away like a vision in the night.^{Verse 9}The eye that saw him will see him no more,and his place will no longer behold him.^{Verse 10}His sons will seek the favor of the poor,for his own hands must return his wealth.^{Verse 11}The youthful vigor that fills his boneswill lie down with him in the dust.^{Verse 12}Though evil is sweet in his mouthand he conceals it under his tongue,^{Verse 13}though he cannot bear to let it goand keeps it in his mouth,^{Verse 14}yet in his stomach his food soursinto the venom of cobras within him.^{Verse 15}He swallows wealth but vomits it out;God will force it from his stomach.^{Verse 16}He will suck the poison of cobras;the fangs of a viper will kill him.^{Verse 17}He will not enjoy the streams,the rivers flowing with honey and cream.^{Verse 18}He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.^{Verse 19}For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor;he has seized houses he did not build.^{Verse 20}Because his appetite is never satisfied,he cannot escape with his treasure.^{Verse 21}Nothing is left for him to consume;thus his prosperity will not endure.^{Verse 22}In the midst of his plenty, he will be distressed;the full force of misery will come upon him.^{Verse 23}When he has filled his stomach,God will vent His fury upon him,
raining it down on him as he eats.^{Verse 24}Though he flees from an iron weapon,a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him.^{Verse 25}It is drawn out of his back,the gleaming point from his liver.⁺
Terrors come over him.^{Verse 26}Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.A fire unfanned will consume him
and devour what is left in his tent.^{Verse 27}The heavens will expose his iniquity,and the earth will rise up against him.^{Verse 28}The possessions of his house will be removed,flowing away on the day of God’s wrath.^{Verse 29}This is the wicked man’s portion from God,the inheritance God has appointed him.”