Job 20
1 Then
answered Zophar the
Naamathite, and
said,
2 Therefore do my
thoughts cause me to
answer, and for this I make
haste.
3 I have
heard the
check of my
reproach, and the
spirit of my
understanding causeth me to
answer.
4 Knowest thou not this of
old, since
man was
placed upon
earth, 5 That the
triumphing of the
wicked is
short, and the
joy of the
hypocrite but for a
moment? 6 Though his
excellency mount
up to the
heavens, and his
head reach unto the
clouds; 7 Yet he shall
perish for
ever like his own
dung: they which have
seen him shall
say,
Where is he?
8 He shall fly
away as a
dream, and shall not be
found: yea, he shall be chased
away as a
vision of the
night. 9 The
eye also which
saw him shall see him no
more; neither shall his
place any more
behold him.
10 His
children shall seek to
please the
poor, and his
hands shall
restore their
goods. 11 His
bones are
full of the sin of his
youth, which shall lie
down with him in the
dust. 12 Though
wickedness be
sweet in his
mouth, though he
hide it under his
tongue; 13 Though he
spare it, and
forsake it not; but keep it
still within his
mouth: 14 Yet his
meat in his
bowels is
turned, it is the
gall of
asps within him.
15 He hath swallowed
down riches, and he shall vomit them up
again:
God shall cast them
out of his
belly. 16 He shall
suck the
poison of
asps: the
viper's tongue shall
slay him.
17 He shall not
see the
rivers, the
floods, the
brooks of
honey and
butter. 18 That which he
laboured for shall he
restore, and shall not swallow it
down: according to his
substance shall the
restitution be, and he shall not
rejoice therein.
19 Because he hath
oppressed and hath
forsaken the
poor; because he hath violently taken
away an
house which he
builded not;
20 Surely he shall not
feel quietness in his
belly, he shall not
save of that which he
desired.
21 There shall none of his
meat be
left; therefore shall no man
look for his
goods. 22 In the
fulness of his
sufficiency he shall be in
straits: every
hand of the
wicked shall
come upon him.
23 When he is about to
fill his
belly, God shall
cast the
fury of his
wrath upon him, and shall
rain it upon him while he is
eating. 24 He shall
flee from the
iron weapon, and the
bow of
steel shall strike him
through.
25 It is
drawn, and cometh
out of the
body; yea, the glittering
sword cometh
out of his
gall: terrors are upon him.
26 All
darkness shall be
hid in his secret
places: a
fire not
blown shall
consume him; it shall go
ill with him that is
left in his
tabernacle. 27 The
heaven shall
reveal his
iniquity; and the
earth shall rise
up against him.
28 The
increase of his
house shall
depart, and his goods shall flow
away in the
day of his
wrath. 29 This is the
portion of a
wicked man from
God, and the
heritage appointed unto him by
God.