Job 20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Zophar Speaks: Wickedness Receives Just Retribution
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2 “Listen! My thoughts urge me to answer
because of the agitation within me.
3 I hear censure that insults me,
and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me.(A)
4 Do you not know this from of old,
ever since mortals were placed on earth,(B)
5 that the exulting of the wicked is short
and the joy of the godless is but for a moment?(C)
6 Even though they mount up high as the heavens
and their head reaches to the clouds,(D)
7 they will perish forever like their own dung;
those who have seen them will say, ‘Where are they?’
8 They will fly away like a dream and not be found;
they will be chased away like a vision of the night.(E)
9 The eye that saw them will see them no more,
nor will their place behold them any longer.(F)
10 Their children will seek the favor of the poor,
and their hands will give back their wealth.(G)
11 Their bodies, once full of youth,
will lie down in the dust with them.(H)
12 “Though wickedness is sweet in their mouth,
though they hide it under their tongues,(I)
13 though they are loath to let it go
and hold it in their mouths,
14 yet their food is turned in their stomachs;
it is the venom of asps within them.
15 They swallow down riches and vomit them up again;
God casts them out of their bellies.
16 They will suck the poison of asps;
the tongue of a viper will kill them.(J)
17 They will not look on the rivers,
the streams flowing with honey and curds.(K)
18 They will give back the fruit of their toil
and will not swallow it down;
from the profit of their trading
they will get no enjoyment.(L)
19 For they have crushed and abandoned the poor;
they have seized a house that they did not build.(M)
20 “For they knew no quiet in their bellies;
in their greed they let nothing escape.(N)
21 There was nothing left after they had eaten;
therefore their prosperity will not endure.(O)
22 In full sufficiency they will be in distress;
all the force of misery will come upon them.
23 To fill their belly to the full,
God[a] will send his fierce anger into them
and rain it upon them as their food.(P)
24 They will flee from an iron weapon;
a bronze arrow will strike them through.(Q)
25 It is drawn forth and comes out of their body,
and the glittering point comes out of their gall;
terrors come upon them.(R)
26 Utter darkness is laid up for their treasures;
a fire fanned by no one will devour them;
what is left in their tent will be consumed.(S)
27 The heavens will reveal their iniquity,
and the earth will rise up against them.(T)
28 The possessions of their house will be carried away,
dragged off in the day of God’s[b] wrath.(U)
29 This is the portion of the wicked from God,
the heritage decreed for them by God.”(V)
Job 20
King James Version
20 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.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.