1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: |
2 "My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer
because I am greatly disturbed. |
3 I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,
and my understanding inspires me to reply. |
4 "Surely you know how it has been from of old,
ever since man1 20:4 Or Adam was placed on the earth, |
5 that the mirth of the wicked is brief,
the joy of the godless lasts but a moment. |
6 Though his pride reaches to the heavens
and his head touches the clouds, |
7 he will perish forever, like his own dung;
those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?' |
8 Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found,
banished like a vision of the night. |
9 The eye that saw him will not see him again;
his place will look on him no more. |
10 His children must make amends to the poor;
his own hands must give back his wealth. |
11 The youthful vigor that fills his bones
will lie with him in the dust. |
12 "Though evil is sweet in his mouth
and he hides it under his tongue, |
13 though he cannot bear to let it go
and keeps it in his mouth, |
14 yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;
it will become the venom of serpents within him. |
15 He will spit out the riches he swallowed;
God will make his stomach vomit them up. |
16 He will suck the poison of serpents;
the fangs of an adder will kill him. |
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and cream. |
18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;
he will not enjoy the profit from his trading. |
19 For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute;
he has seized houses he did not build. |
20 "Surely he will have no respite from his craving;
he cannot save himself by his treasure. |
21 Nothing is left for him to devour;
his prosperity will not endure. |
22 In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;
the full force of misery will come upon him. |
23 When he has filled his belly,
God will vent his burning anger against him
and rain down his blows upon him. |
24 Though he flees from an iron weapon,
a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him. |
25 He pulls it out of his back,
the gleaming point out of his liver.
Terrors will come over him; |
26 total darkness lies in wait for his treasures.
A fire unfanned will consume him
and devour what is left in his tent. |
27 The heavens will expose his guilt;
the earth will rise up against him. |
28 A flood will carry off his house,
rushing waters2 20:28 Or The possessions in his house will be carried off, / washed away on the day of God's wrath. |
29 Such is the fate God allots the wicked,
the heritage appointed for them by God." |
