Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: | 1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: |
2This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer, because I am upset! | 2“I must reply because I am greatly disturbed. |
3I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding makes me reply. | 3I’ve had to endure your insults, but now my spirit prompts me to reply. |
4Don't you know that ever since antiquity, from the time a human was placed on earth, | 4“Don’t you realize that from the beginning of time, ever since people were first placed on the earth, |
5the joy of the wicked has been brief and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment? | 5the triumph of the wicked has been short lived and the joy of the godless has been only temporary? |
6Though his arrogance reaches heaven, and his head touches the clouds, | 6Though the pride of the godless reaches to the heavens and their heads touch the clouds, |
7he will vanish forever like his own dung. Those who know him will ask, "Where is he?" | 7yet they will vanish forever, thrown away like their own dung. Those who knew them will ask, ‘Where are they?’ |
8He will fly away like a dream and never be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night. | 8They will fade like a dream and not be found. They will vanish like a vision in the night. |
9The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his household will no longer see him. | 9Those who once saw them will see them no more. Their families will never see them again. |
10His children will beg from the poor, for his own hands must give back his wealth. | 10Their children will beg from the poor, for they must give back their stolen riches. |
11His frame may be full of youthful vigor, but it will lie down with him in dust. | 11Though they are young, their bones will lie in the dust. |
12Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue, | 12“They enjoyed the sweet taste of wickedness, letting it melt under their tongue. |
13though he cherishes it and will not let it go but keeps it in his mouth, | 13They savored it, holding it long in their mouths. |
14yet the food in his stomach turns into cobras' venom inside him. | 14But suddenly the food in their bellies turns sour, a poisonous venom in their stomach. |
15He swallows wealth but must vomit it up; God will force it from his stomach. | 15They will vomit the wealth they swallowed. God won’t let them keep it down. |
16He will suck the poison of cobras; a viper's fangs will kill him. | 16They will suck the poison of cobras. The viper will kill them. |
17He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and curds. | 17They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil or rivers of milk and honey. |
18He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he doesn't enjoy the profits from his trading. | 18They will give back everything they worked for. Their wealth will bring them no joy. |
19For he oppressed and abandoned the poor; he seized a house he did not build. | 19For they oppressed the poor and left them destitute. They foreclosed on their homes. |
20Because his appetite is never satisfied, he does not let anything he desires escape. | 20They were always greedy and never satisfied. Nothing remains of all the things they dreamed about. |
21Nothing is left for him to consume; therefore, his prosperity will not last. | 21Nothing is left after they finish gorging themselves. Therefore, their prosperity will not endure. |
22At the height of his success distress will come to him; the full weight of misery will crush him. | 22“In the midst of plenty, they will run into trouble and be overcome by misery. |
23When he fills his stomach, God will send his burning anger against him, raining it down on him while he is eating. | 23May God give them a bellyful of trouble. May God rain down his anger upon them. |
24If he flees from an iron weapon, an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him. | 24When they try to escape an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce them. |
25He pulls it out of his back, the flashing tip out of his liver. Terrors come over him. | 25The arrow is pulled from their back, and the arrowhead glistens with blood. The terrors of death are upon them. |
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. | 26Their treasures will be thrown into deepest darkness. A wildfire will devour their goods, consuming all they have left. |
27The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. | 27The heavens will reveal their guilt, and the earth will testify against them. |
28The possessions in his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God's anger. | 28A flood will sweep away their house. God’s anger will descend on them in torrents. |
29This is the wicked person's lot from God, the inheritance God ordained for him. | 29This is the reward that God gives the wicked. It is the inheritance decreed by God.” |
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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