Job 20

^{Job 20:1} Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

^{Job 20:2} “So my anxious thoughts compel me to answer, because of the turmoil within me.

^{Job 20:3} I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding prompts a reply.

^{Job 20:4} Do you not know that from antiquity, since man was placed on the earth,

^{Job 20:5} the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

^{Job 20:6} Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds,

^{Job 20:7} he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’

^{Job 20:8} He will fly away like a dream, never to be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.

^{Job 20:9} The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his place will no longer behold him.

^{Job 20:10} His sons will seek the favor of the poor, for his own hands must return his wealth.

^{Job 20:11} The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie down with him in the dust.

^{Job 20:12} Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,

^{Job 20:13} though he cannot bear to let it go and keeps it in his mouth,

^{Job 20:14} yet in his stomach his food sours into the venom of cobras within him.

^{Job 20:15} He swallows wealth but vomits it out; God will force it from his stomach.

^{Job 20:16} He will suck the poison of cobras; the fangs of a viper will kill him.

^{Job 20:17} He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

^{Job 20:18} He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.

^{Job 20:19} For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; he has seized houses he did not build.

^{Job 20:20} Because his appetite is never satisfied, he cannot escape with his treasure.

^{Job 20:21} Nothing is left for him to consume; thus his prosperity will not endure.

^{Job 20:22} In the midst of his plenty, he will be distressed; the full force of misery will come upon him.

^{Job 20:23} When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats.

^{Job 20:24} Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him.

^{Job 20:25} It is drawn out of his back, the gleaming point from his liver. Terrors come over him.

^{Job 20:26} Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.

^{Job 20:27} The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.

^{Job 20:28} The possessions of his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God’s wrath.

^{Job 20:29} This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the inheritance God has appointed him.”