King James Bible

New Living Translation

1Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

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

2“I must reply because I am greatly disturbed.

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

3I’ve had to endure your insults, but now my spirit prompts me to reply.

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

4“Don’t you realize that from the beginning of time, ever since people were first placed on the earth,

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

5the triumph of the wicked has been short lived and the joy of the godless has been only temporary?

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

6Though the pride of the godless reaches to the heavens and their heads touch the clouds,

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

7yet they will vanish forever, thrown away like their own dung. Those who knew them will ask, ‘Where are they?’

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

8They will fade like a dream and not be found. They will vanish like a vision in the night.

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

9Those who once saw them will see them no more. Their families will never see them again.

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

10Their children will beg from the poor, for they must give back their stolen riches.

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

11Though they are young, their bones will lie in the dust.

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

12“They enjoyed the sweet taste of wickedness, letting it melt under their tongue.

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

13They savored it, holding it long in their mouths.

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

14But suddenly the food in their bellies turns sour, a poisonous venom in their stomach.

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

15They will vomit the wealth they swallowed. God won’t let them keep it down.

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

16They will suck the poison of cobras. The viper will kill them.

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

17They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil or rivers of milk and honey.

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.

18They will give back everything they worked for. Their wealth will bring them no joy.

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

19For they oppressed the poor and left them destitute. They foreclosed on their homes.

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

20They were always greedy and never satisfied. Nothing remains of all the things they dreamed about.

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

21Nothing is left after they finish gorging themselves. Therefore, their prosperity will not endure.

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

22“In the midst of plenty, they will run into trouble and be overcome by misery.

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.

23May God give them a bellyful of trouble. May God rain down his anger upon them.

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

24When they try to escape an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce them.

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

25The arrow is pulled from their back, and the arrowhead glistens with blood. The terrors of death are upon them.

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.

26Their treasures will be thrown into deepest darkness. A wildfire will devour their goods, consuming all they have left.

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

27The heavens will reveal their guilt, and the earth will testify against them.

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

28A flood will sweep away their house. God’s anger will descend on them in torrents.

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

29This is the reward that God gives the wicked. It is the inheritance decreed by God.”

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.

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.