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