Hiob 20 | New International Reader’s Version

The second speech of Zophar

1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied, 2 ‘My troubled thoughts force me to answer you. That’s because I’m very upset. 3 What you have just said dishonours me. So I really have to reply to you. 4 ‘I’m sure you must know how things have always been. They’ve been that way ever since human beings were placed on this earth. 5 Those who are evil are happy for only a short time. The joy of ungodly people lasts only for a moment. 6 Their pride might reach all the way up to the heavens. Their heads might touch the clouds. 7 But they will disappear for ever, like the waste from their own bodies. Anyone who has seen them will say, “Where did they go?” 8 Like a dream they will fly away. They will never be seen again. They will be driven away like visions in the night. 9 The eyes that saw them won’t see them anymore. Even their own families won’t remember them. 10 Their children must pay back what they took from poor people. Their own hands must give back the wealth they stole. 11 They might feel young and very strong. But they will soon lie down in the dust of their graves. 12 ‘Anything that is evil tastes sweet to them. They keep it under their tongues for a while. 13 They can’t stand to let it go. So they hold it in their mouths. 14 But their food will turn sour in their stomachs. It will become like the poison of a snake inside them. 15 They will spit out the rich food they swallowed. God will make their stomachs throw it up. 16 They will suck the poison of a snake. The fangs of an adder will kill them. 17 They won’t enjoy streams that flow with honey. They won’t enjoy rivers that flow with cream. 18 What they worked for they must give back before they can eat it. They won’t enjoy what they have earned. 19 They’ve crushed poor people and left them with nothing. They’ve taken over houses they didn’t even build. 20 ‘No matter how much they have, they always long for more. But their treasure can’t save them. 21 There isn’t anything left for them to eat up. Their success won’t last. 22 While they are enjoying the good life, trouble will catch up with them. Terrible suffering will come on them. 23 When they’ve filled their stomachs, God will pour out his great anger on them. He’ll strike them down with blow after blow. 24 They might run away from iron weapons. But arrows that have bronze tips will wound them. 25 They will pull the arrows out of their backs. They will remove the shining tips from their livers. They will be filled with terror. 26 Total darkness hides and waits for their treasures. God will send a fire that will destroy them. It will burn up everything that’s left in their tents. 27 Heaven will show their guilt to everyone. The earth will be a witness against them. 28 A flood will carry their houses away. Rushing water will wash them away on the day when God judges. 29 Now you know what God will do to sinful people. Now you know what he has planned for them.’

English Standard Version

Zophar Speaks: The Wicked Will Suffer

1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said: 2 “Therefore my thoughts 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, since man was placed on earth, 5 that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment? 6 Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds, 7 he will perish forever like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’ 8 He will fly away like a dream and not be found; he will be chased away like a vision of the night. 9 The 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 give back his wealth. 11 His bones are full of his youthful vigor, but it will lie down with him in the dust. 12 “Though evil is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under 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 cobras 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; the tongue of a viper will kill him. 17 He will not look upon the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds. 18 He will give back the fruit of his toil and will not swallow 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 knew no contentment in his belly, he 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, God* will send his burning anger against him and rain it upon him into his body. 24 He will flee from an iron weapon; a bronze arrow will strike him through. 25 It is drawn forth and comes out of his body; the glittering point comes out of his gallbladder; terrors come upon him. 26 Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures; a fire not fanned will devour him; what is left in his tent will be consumed. 27 The 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’s* wrath. 29 This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the heritage decreed for him by God.”

Hiob 20 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

The second speech of Zophar

Zophar Speaks: The Wicked Will Suffer