13 Such is the destiny(A) of all who forget God;(B)
    so perishes the hope of the godless.(C)
14 What they trust in is fragile[a];
    what they rely on is a spider’s web.(D)
15 They lean on the web,(E) but it gives way;
    they cling to it, but it does not hold.(F)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 8:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

13 So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish:

14 Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.

15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

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16 Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,(A)
    for no godless(B) person would dare come before him!(C)

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16 He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.

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31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.

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33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,(A)
    like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.(B)

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33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.

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34 For the company of the godless(A) will be barren,
    and fire will consume(B) the tents of those who love bribes.(C)

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34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.

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The upright are appalled at this;
    the innocent are aroused(A) against the ungodly.

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Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.

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“Surely you know how it has been from of old,(A)
    ever since mankind[a] was placed on the earth,
that the mirth of the wicked(B) is brief,
    the joy of the godless(C) lasts but a moment.(D)
Though the pride(E) of the godless person reaches to the heavens(F)
    and his head touches the clouds,(G)
he will perish forever,(H) like his own dung;
    those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’(I)
Like a dream(J) he flies away,(K) no more to be found,
    banished(L) like a vision of the night.(M)
The eye that saw him will not see him again;
    his place will look on him no more.(N)
10 His children(O) must make amends to the poor;
    his own hands must give back his wealth.(P)
11 The youthful vigor(Q) that fills his bones(R)
    will lie with him in the dust.(S)

12 “Though evil(T) is sweet in his mouth
    and he hides it under his tongue,(U)
13 though he cannot bear to let it go
    and lets it linger in his mouth,(V)
14 yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;(W)
    it will become the venom of serpents(X) within him.
15 He will spit out the riches(Y) he swallowed;
    God will make his stomach vomit(Z) them up.
16 He will suck the poison(AA) of serpents;
    the fangs of an adder will kill him.(AB)
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
    the rivers(AC) flowing with honey(AD) and cream.(AE)
18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;(AF)
    he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.(AG)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 20:4 Or Adam

Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,

That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;

Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?

He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.

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.

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