20:1  Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

20:2  “ Therefore my anxious thoughts make me answer,
Because of the turmoil within me.

20:3  I have heard the rebuke that reproaches me,
And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer.

20:4  “Do you not know this of old,
Since man was placed on earth,

20:5  That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment?

20:6  Though his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens,
And his head reaches to the clouds,

20:7  Yet he will perish forever like his own refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

20:8  He will fly away like a dream, and not be found;
Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.

20:9  The eye that saw him will see him no more,
Nor will his place behold him anymore.

20:10  His children will seek the favor of the poor,
And his hands will restore his wealth.

20:11  His bones are full of his youthful vigor,
But it will lie down with him in the dust.

20:12  “ Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
And he hides it under his tongue,

20:13  Though he spares it and does not forsake it,
But still keeps it in his mouth,

20:14  Yet his food in his stomach turns sour;
It becomes cobra venom within him.

20:15  He swallows down riches
And vomits them up again;
God casts them out of his belly.

20:16  He will suck the poison of cobras;
The viper’s tongue will slay him.

20:17  He will not see the streams,
The rivers flowing with honey and cream.

20:18  He will restore that for which he labored,
And will not swallow it down;
From the proceeds of business
He will get no enjoyment.

20:19  For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor,
He has violently seized a house which he did not build.

20:20  “ Because he knows no quietness in his heart,
He will not save anything he desires.

20:21  Nothing is left for him to eat;
Therefore his well-being will not last.

20:22  In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress;
Every hand of misery will come against him.

20:23  When he is about to fill his stomach,
God will cast on him the fury of His wrath,
And will rain it on him while he is eating.

20:24  He will flee from the iron weapon;
A bronze bow will pierce him through.

20:25  It is drawn, and comes out of the body;
Yes, the glittering point comes out of his gall.
Terrors come upon him;

20:26  Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
An unfanned fire will consume him;
It shall go ill with him who is left in his tent.

20:27  The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
And the earth will rise up against him.

20:28  The increase of his house will depart,
And his goods will flow away in the day of His wrath.

20:29  This is the portion from God for a wicked man,
The heritage appointed to him by God.”