Job 20:1-21:34

Zophar 1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

2“My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed.

3I 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 mankind Or Adam was placed on the earth,

5that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.

6Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds,

7he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

8Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found, banished like a vision of the night.

9The eye that saw him will not see him again; his place will look on him no more.

10His children must make amends to the poor; his own hands must give back his wealth.

11The 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,

13though he cannot bear to let it go and lets it linger in his mouth,

14yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him.

15He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up.

16He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him.

17He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

18What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.

19For 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.

21Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure.

22In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him.

23When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows on him.

24Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.

25He pulls it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over him;

26total darkness lies in wait for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.

27The heavens will expose his guilt; the earth will rise up against him.

28A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters Or The possessions in his house will be carried off, / washed away on the day of God’s wrath. 29Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God.”

Job 1Then Job replied:

2“Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me.

3Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.

4“Is my complaint directed to a human being? Why should I not be impatient?

5Look at me and be appalled; clap your hand over your mouth.

6When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body.

7Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?

8They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes.

9Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not on them.

10Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry.

11They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about.

12They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre; they make merry to the sound of the pipe.

13They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. Or in an instant

14Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways.

15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?’

16But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

17“Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in his anger?

18How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale?

19It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’ Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!

20Let their own eyes see their destruction; let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.

21For what do they care about the families they leave behind when their allotted months come to an end?

22“Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest?

23One person dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease,

24well nourished in body, The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. bones rich with marrow.

25Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good.

26Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both.

27“I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me.

28You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great, the tents where the wicked lived?’

29Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts—

30that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity, that they are delivered from Or wicked are reserved for the day of calamity, / that they are brought forth to the day of wrath?

31Who denounces their conduct to their face? Who repays them for what they have done?

32They are carried to the grave, and watch is kept over their tombs.

33The soil in the valley is sweet to them; everyone follows after them, and a countless throng goes Or them, / as a countless throng went before them. 34“So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”