Noyes - Job - 20

20:1  Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said:

20:2  For this do my thoughts lead me to reply, And for this is my ardor within me.

20:3  I have heard my shameful rebuke; And the spirit, from my understanding, answereth for me.

20:4  Knowest thou not, that from the days of old, From the time when man was placed upon the earth,

20:5  The triumphing of the wicked hath been short, And the joy of the impious but for a moment?

20:6  Though his greatness mount up to the heavens, And his head reach to the clouds,

20:7  Yet shall he perish for ever, and be mingled with dust; They who saw him shall say, Where is he?

20:8  He shall flee away like a dream, and shall not be found; Yea, he shall disappear like a vision of the nigh.

20:9  The eye also which saw him shall see him no more, And his dwelling-place shall never more behold him.

20:10  His sons shall seek the favor of the poor, And their hands shall give back his wealth.

20:11  His bones are full of his youth, But they shall lie down with him in the dust.

20:12  Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, Though he hide it under his tongue,

20:13  Though he cherish it, and will not part with it, And keep it fast in his mouth,

20:14  Yet his meat shall be changed within him, And become to him the poison of asps.

20:15  He hath glutted himself with riches, And he shall throw them up again; Yea, God shall cast them out of his body.

20:16  He shall suck the poison of asps; The tongue of the viper shall destroy him.

20:17  He shall never see the flowing streams, And the rivers of honey and milk.

20:18  The fruits of his toil he shall give back, and shall not enjoy them: It is substance to be restored, and he shall not rejoice therein.

20:19  Because he hath oppressed and abandoned the poor, And seized upon the house which he did not build;

20:20  Because he knew no rest in his bosom, He shall not save that in which he delighteth.

20:21  Because nothing escaped his greediness, His prosperity shall not endure.

20:22  In the fulness of his abundance he shall be brought low; Every hand of the wretched shall come upon him.

20:23  He shall, indeed, have wherewith to fill himself: God shall send upon him the fury of his anger, And rain it down upon him for his food.

20:24  If he fleeth from the iron weapon, The bow of brass shall pierce him through.

20:25  He draweth the arrow, and it cometh forth from his body; Yea, the glittering steel cometh out of his gall. Terrors are upon him;

20:26  Calamity of every kind is treasured up for him. A fire not blown shall consume him; It shall consume whatever is left in his tent.

20:27  The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, And the earth shall rise up against him.

20:28  The substance of his house shall disappear; It shall flow away in the day of His wrath.

20:29  Such is the portion of the wicked man from God, And the inheritance appointed for him by the Almighty.