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Job 20 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Zophar Says the Rejoicing of the Wicked Is Short

20 Then Zophar the Naamathite responded,

²“Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me ^[a]respond,
Even because of my ^[b]inward agitation.
³I listened to ^(A)the reprimand which insults me,
And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.
⁴Do you know this from ^(B)ancient times,
From the establishment of mankind on earth,
⁵That the ^(C)rejoicing of the wicked is short,
And ^(D)the joy of the godless momentary?
⁶Though his arrogance ^[c]^(E)reaches the heavens,
And his head touches the clouds,
⁷He ^(F)perishes forever like his refuse;
Those who have seen him ^(G)will say, ‘Where is he?’
⁸He flies away like a ^(H)dream, and they cannot find him;
Like a vision of the night he is ^(I)chased away.
⁹The ^(J)eye which saw him sees him no longer,
And ^(K)his place no longer beholds him.
¹⁰His ^(L)sons ^[d]favor the poor,
And his hands ^(M)give back his wealth.
¹¹His ^(N)bones are full of his youthful strength,
But it lies down with him ^[e]in the dust.

¹²“Though ^(O)evil tastes sweet in his mouth
And he hides it under his tongue,
¹³Though he ^[f]desires it and will not let it go,
But holds it ^(P)in his ^[g]mouth,
¹⁴Yet his food in his stomach is changed
To the ^[h]venom of cobras within him.
¹⁵He swallows riches,
But will ^(Q)vomit them up;
God will expel them from his belly.
¹⁶He sucks ^(R)the poison of cobras;
The viper’s tongue kills him.
¹⁷He does not look at ^(S)the streams,
The rivers flowing with honey and curds.
¹⁸He ^(T)returns the product of his labor
And cannot swallow it;
As to the riches of his trading,
He cannot even enjoy them.
¹⁹For he has ^(U)oppressed and neglected the poor;
He has seized a house which he has not built.

²⁰“Because he knew no quiet ^[i]within him,
He does ^(V)not retain anything he desires.
²¹Nothing remains ^[j]for him to devour,
Therefore ^(W)his prosperity does not endure.
²²In the fullness of his excess he will be cramped;
The ^(X)hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.
²³When he ^(Y)fills his belly,
God will send His fierce anger on him
And ^(Z)rain it on him ^[k]while he is eating.
²⁴He may ^(AA)flee from the iron weapon,
But the bronze bow will pierce him.
²⁵It is drawn and comes out of his back,
Even the flashing point from ^(AB)his gallbladder;
^(AC)Terrors come upon him,
²⁶Complete ^(AD)darkness is held in reserve for his treasures,
And unfanned ^(AE)fire will devour him;
It will consume the survivor in his tent.
²⁷The ^(AF)heavens will reveal his guilt,
And the earth will rise up against him.
²⁸The ^(AG)increase of his house will disappear;
His possessions will flow away ^(AH)on the day of His anger.
²⁹This is a wicked person’s ^(AI)portion from God,
The inheritance decreed to him by God.”

New American Standard Bible (NASB)