LEB - Job - 20

20:1   Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,

20:2  “Therefore my disquieting thoughts bring me back ⌞for the sake of⌟ my inward excitement.

20:3  I hear discipline that insults me, and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me.

20:4  “Did you know this from of old, since the setting of the human being on earth,

20:5  that the rejoicing of the wicked is ⌞short⌟, and the joy of the godless ⌞lasts only a moment⌟?

20:6  Even though his stature mounts up to the heaven, and his head reaches to the clouds,

20:7  he will perish forever like his dung; those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

20:8  He will fly away like a dream, and they will not find him, and he will be chased away like a vision of the night.

20:9  The eye that saw him ⌞will not see him again⌟, and his place will no longer behold him.

20:10  His children will seek favors from the poor, and his hands will return his wealth.

20:11  His bones were full of his vigor, but it will lie down with him on the dust.

20:12  “Though wickedness tastes sweet in his mouth, and he hides it under his tongue,

20:13  though he spares it and does not let it go and holds it back in the midst of his palate,

20:14  in his bowels his food is turned, the venom of horned vipers is ⌞within him⌟.

20:15  He swallows riches, but he vomits them up; God drives them out from his stomach.

20:16  He will suck the poison of horned vipers; the viper’s tongue will kill him.

20:17  ⌞He will not enjoy the streams⌟, the torrents of honey and curds.

20:18  Returning the products of his toil, he will not swallow; according to the profit of his trade, ⌞he will not enjoy⌟,

20:19  for he has oppressed; he has abandoned the poor; he has seized a house but did not build it.

20:20  Because he has not known satisfaction in his stomach, ⌞he lets nothing escape that he desires⌟.

20:21  ⌞There is nothing left after he has eaten⌟; therefore his prosperity will not endure.

20:22  In the fullness of his excess ⌞he will be in distress⌟; all of misery’s power will come upon him.

20:23  ⌞When his stomach fills up⌟, God will send ⌞his burning anger⌟ upon him, and he will let it rain down upon him as his food.

20:24  “He will flee from an iron weapon, but an arrow of bronze will pierce him.

20:25  He draws it forth, and it comes out from his body, and the glittering point comes from his gall-bladder; terrors come upon him.

20:26  ⌞Total darkness⌟ is hidden for his treasures; ⌞an unfanned fire⌟ will devour him; the remnant ⌞will be consumed⌟ in his tent.

20:27  The heavens will reveal his guilt, and the earth will rise up against him.

20:28  The products of his house will be carried away like gushing waters on the day of his wrath.

20:29  This is a wicked human being’s portion from God and the inheritance of his decree from God.”