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1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said, 2 “I'm forced to reply because I'm really upset! 3 What I hear you say insults me, but I know how to reply to you!
4 Don't you know that since ancient times, since human beings were put on this earth, 5 that the triumph of the wicked doesn't last long, that those who reject God are only happy for a short time? 6 Even though they are so tall*Or “their pride.” they reach the heavens, even though their heads reach the clouds, 7 they will vanish forever like their own excrement. People who knew†Literally, “have seen him.” them will ask, ‘Where have they gone?’ 8 They will vanish like a dream, never to be found, fleeing like a vision of the night. 9 Those who once saw them will not see them anymore; their families will never set eyes on them again. 10 Their children will have to pay back the poor; they will have to return their wealth.‡Implying that the wicked parents had improperly taken money from the poor. 11 Though the wicked have bodies that are young and strong, they will die and be buried.§Literally, “it will lie down with him in the dust.”
12 Though evil tastes sweet in their mouths and they hide it under their tongues, 13 not letting it go but keeping it in their mouths, 14 in their stomachs it turns bitter, becoming like snake venom inside them. 15 They swallow wealth and vomit it up again; God forces it from their stomachs. 16 They suck in snake venom; the bite of the viper will kill them. 17 They will not live to enjoy the streams, the rivers of milk and honey. 18 They will have to give back what they have gained and will not have any benefit;*Literally, “will not swallow it down.” they will not enjoy any of their profits. 19 For they have oppressed and abandoned the poor; they have seized houses they did not build. 20 Because their greed was never satisfied,†Literally, “knew no quietness in the belly.” nothing they liked is left that they didn't consume. 21 Nothing escapes their ravenous appetites, so their happiness doesn't last long.
22 Even when the wicked have all that they want they run into trouble; all kinds of misery will fall upon them. 23 While they are busy filling their bellies, God's hostility will burn against them, raining down on them. 24 As they flee to escape an iron weapon, a bronze arrow will strike them down. 25 The arrow is pulled out of their gall bladder, glistening with blood. They are absolutely terrified! 26 All they value will disappear into the darkness; divine fire‡Literally, “a fire that is not fanned”—in other words a fire not started by human hand. will destroy them; all they have left will go up in smoke. 27 The heavens reveal what they have done wrong; the earth will rise up against them. 28 All their possessions will be carried from their homes; they will be dragged off on the day of God's judgment. 29 This is the share the wicked receive from God, the inheritance God says they should have.”

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*20:6 Or “their pride.”

†20:7 Literally, “have seen him.”

‡20:10 Implying that the wicked parents had improperly taken money from the poor.

§20:11 Literally, “it will lie down with him in the dust.”

*20:18 Literally, “will not swallow it down.”

†20:20 Literally, “knew no quietness in the belly.”

‡20:26 Literally, “a fire that is not fanned”—in other words a fire not started by human hand.

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher