Job 20

Job Chapter 20 ESV

1Zophar sheweth in his turn the certain downfall and portion of the wicked.
1 Then 1Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:
2 “Therefore my 1thoughts answer me, because of my haste within me.
3 I hear censure that insults me, and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.
4 Do you not know this from of old, 1since man was placed on earth,
5 1that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment?
6 1Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds,
7 he will perish forever like his own 1dung; those who have seen him will say, 2‘Where is he?’
8 He will fly away like 1a dream and not be found; he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
9 1The eye that saw him will see him no more, nor will his place any more behold him.
10 His children will seek the favor of the poor, and his hands will 1give back his wealth.
11 His bones are full of his 1youthful vigor, but it will lie 2down with him in the dust.
12 “Though evil is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it 1under his tongue,
13 though he is loath to let it go and holds it in his mouth,
14 yet his food is turned in his stomach; it is the venom of 1cobras within him.
15 He swallows down riches and vomits them up again; God casts them out of his belly.
16 He will suck the poison of cobras; 1the tongue of a viper will kill him.
17 He will not look upon 1the rivers, the streams flowing with 2honey and 3curds.
18 He will 1give back the fruit of his toil and will not 2swallow it down; from the profit of his trading he will get no enjoyment.
19 For he has crushed and abandoned the poor; he has seized a house that he did not build.
20 “Because he 1knew no 2contentment in his belly, 3he will not let anything in which he delights escape him.
21 There was nothing left after he had eaten; therefore his prosperity will not endure.
22 In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress; the hand of everyone in misery will come against him.
23 To fill his belly to the full, Goda will send his burning anger against him and rain it upon him 1into his body.
24 1He will flee from an iron weapon; 2a bronze arrow will strike 3him through.
25 It 1is drawn forth and comes out of his body; 2the glittering point comes out of his 3gallbladder; 4terrors come upon him.
26 Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures; 1a fire not fanned will devour him; what is left in his tent will be consumed.
27 1The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.
28 The possessions of his house will be carried away, dragged off in the day of God'sa wrath.
29 1This is the wicked man's portion from God, 2the heritage decreed for him by God.”
Job 20

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