THE BOOK OF JOB

 

Job Chapter 20

1 ¶ Then Zophar the Naamathite responded, saying,

2 My distress of mind compels me to answer, for I am upset.

3 I have heard the reproof that puts me to shame, but the spirit of my understanding causes me to reply.

4 Don’t you know that from the distant past, ever since man was placed on the earth,

5 The triumphing of the wicked has been short, and the joy of the ungodly but for a moment?

6 Though his pride reaches up to the heavens, and his head touches the clouds;

7 Yet he will perish for ever like his own dung: those who have seen him will say, Where is he?

8 He will fly away like a dream, and will not be found: yea, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.

9 The eye that saw him will see him no more; nor will his home again know his presence.

10 ¶ His children will seek kindness from the poor, and his hands will yield up his wealth.

11 His bones once full of youthful vigor, will lie down with him in the dust.

12 Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue;

13 Though he cherishes it, and will not let it go; but keeps it in his mouth:

14 Yet the food in his belly, turns to venom within him.

15 He has swallowed down riches, and he will vomit them up again: God will cast them out of his belly.

16 He will suck the poison of serpents: the viper’s tongue will slay him.

17 He will not enjoy the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.

18 That which he worked for he will not consume, but restore: he will yield up all he has amassed, and shall not rejoice in it.

19 Because he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; because he has taken by force a house that he did not build;

20 Since his appetite is never satisfied, he will not hold on to anything of that in which he delights.

21 None of his food will be left to consume; therefore his prosperity will not last.

22 At the height of his success he will know distress: the full weight of misery will come upon him.

23 ¶ When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and will rain it upon him while he is eating.

24 He will flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel will strike him through.

25 It is drawn, and the arrow goes through his body; yea, the glittering point pierces his entrails: terrors are upon him.

26 Utter darkness is in store for him: a smoldering fire will consume him; it will feed on anything left in his tent.

27 The heavens will reveal his iniquity; and the earth will rise up against him.

28 The increase of his house will depart, and his goods will flow away in the day of his wrath.

29 This is the portion God assigns to the wicked, and the heritage appointed for him by God.