Christian Standard Bible

King James Bible

1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

1Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

2This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer, because I am upset!

2Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.

3I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding makes me reply.

3I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.

4Don't you know that ever since antiquity, from the time a human was placed on earth,

4Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,

5the joy of the wicked has been brief and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?

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

6Though his arrogance reaches heaven, and his head touches the clouds,

6Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;

7he will vanish forever like his own dung. Those who know him will ask, "Where is he?"

7Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?

8He will fly away like a dream and never be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.

8He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.

9The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his household will no longer see him.

9The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.

10His children will beg from the poor, for his own hands must give back his wealth.

10His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.

11His frame may be full of youthful vigor, but it will lie down with him in dust.

11His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.

12Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,

12Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;

13though he cherishes it and will not let it go but keeps it in his mouth,

13Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:

14yet the food in his stomach turns into cobras' venom inside him.

14Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.

15He swallows wealth but must vomit it up; God will force it from his stomach.

15He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

16He will suck the poison of cobras; a viper's fangs will kill him.

16He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him.

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

17He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.

18He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he doesn't enjoy the profits from his trading.

18That 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.

19For he oppressed and abandoned the poor; he seized a house he did not build.

19Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

20Because his appetite is never satisfied, he does not let anything he desires escape.

20Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.

21Nothing is left for him to consume; therefore, his prosperity will not last.

21There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.

22At the height of his success distress will come to him; the full weight of misery will crush him.

22In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.

23When he fills his stomach, God will send his burning anger against him, raining it down on him while he is eating.

23When 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.

24If he flees from an iron weapon, an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him.

24He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.

25He pulls it out of his back, the flashing tip out of his liver. Terrors come over him.

25It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.

26Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned by human hands will consume him; it will feed on what is left in his tent.

26All 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.

27The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.

27The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.

28The possessions in his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God's anger.

28The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.

29This is the wicked person's lot from God, the inheritance God ordained for him.

29This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.