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Job 20
The Message
Job 20
The Message
Zophar Attacks Job—The Second Round
Savoring Evil as a Delicacy
20 1-3 Zophar from Naamath again took his turn:
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing!
You’ve put my teeth on edge, my stomach in a knot.
How dare you insult my intelligence like this!
Well, here’s a piece of my mind!
4-11 “Don’t you even know the basics,
how things have been since the earliest days,
when Adam and Eve were first placed on earth?
The good times of the wicked are short-lived;
godless joy is only momentary.
The evil might become world famous,
strutting at the head of the celebrity parade,
But still end up in a pile of dung.
Acquaintances look at them with disgust and say, ‘What’s that?’
They fly off like a dream that can’t be remembered,
like a shadowy illusion that vanishes in the light.
Though once notorious public figures, now they’re nobodies,
unnoticed, whether they come or go.
Their children will go begging on skid row,
and they’ll have to give back their ill-gotten gain.
Right in the prime of life,
and youthful and vigorous, they’ll die.
12-19 “They savor evil as a delicacy,
roll it around on their tongues,
Prolong the flavor, a dalliance in decadence—
real gourmets of evil!
But then they get stomach cramps,
a bad case of food poisoning.
They gag on all that rich food;
God makes them vomit it up.
They gorge on evil, make a diet of that poison—
a deadly diet—and it kills them.
No quiet picnics for them beside gentle streams
with fresh-baked bread and cheese, and tall, cool drinks.
They spit out their food half-chewed,
unable to relax and enjoy anything they’ve worked for.
And why? Because they exploited the poor,
took what never belonged to them.
20-29 “Such God-denying people are never content with what they have or who they are;
their greed drives them relentlessly.
They plunder everything
but they can’t hold on to any of it.
Just when they think they have it all, disaster strikes;
they’re served up a plate full of misery.
When they’ve filled their bellies with that,
God gives them a taste of his anger,
and they get to chew on that for a while.
As they run for their lives from one disaster,
they run smack into another.
They’re knocked around from pillar to post,
beaten to within an inch of their lives.
They’re trapped in a house of horrors,
and see their loot disappear down a black hole.
Their lives are a total loss—
not a penny to their name, not so much as a bean.
God will strip them of their sin-soaked clothes
and hang their dirty laundry out for all to see.
Life is a complete wipeout for them,
nothing surviving God’s wrath.
There! That’s God’s blueprint for the wicked—
what they have to look forward to.”
Job 20
New International Version
Job 20
New International Version
Zophar
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite(A) replied:
2 “My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer
because I am greatly disturbed.(B)
3 I hear a rebuke(C) that dishonors me,
and my understanding inspires me to reply.
4 “Surely you know how it has been from of old,(D)
ever since mankind[a] was placed on the earth,
5 that the mirth of the wicked(E) is brief,
the joy of the godless(F) lasts but a moment.(G)
6 Though the pride(H) of the godless person reaches to the heavens(I)
and his head touches the clouds,(J)
7 he will perish forever,(K) like his own dung;
those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’(L)
8 Like a dream(M) he flies away,(N) no more to be found,
banished(O) like a vision of the night.(P)
9 The eye that saw him will not see him again;
his place will look on him no more.(Q)
10 His children(R) must make amends to the poor;
his own hands must give back his wealth.(S)
11 The youthful vigor(T) that fills his bones(U)
will lie with him in the dust.(V)
12 “Though evil(W) is sweet in his mouth
and he hides it under his tongue,(X)
13 though he cannot bear to let it go
and lets it linger in his mouth,(Y)
14 yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;(Z)
it will become the venom of serpents(AA) within him.
15 He will spit out the riches(AB) he swallowed;
God will make his stomach vomit(AC) them up.
16 He will suck the poison(AD) of serpents;
the fangs of an adder will kill him.(AE)
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers(AF) flowing with honey(AG) and cream.(AH)
18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;(AI)
he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.(AJ)
19 For he has oppressed the poor(AK) and left them destitute;(AL)
he has seized houses(AM) he did not build.
20 “Surely he will have no respite from his craving;(AN)
he cannot save himself by his treasure.(AO)
21 Nothing is left for him to devour;
his prosperity will not endure.(AP)
22 In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;(AQ)
the full force of misery will come upon him.(AR)
23 When he has filled his belly,(AS)
God will vent his burning anger(AT) against him
and rain down his blows on him.(AU)
24 Though he flees(AV) from an iron weapon,
a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.(AW)
25 He pulls it out of his back,
the gleaming point out of his liver.
Terrors(AX) will come over him;(AY)
26 total darkness(AZ) lies in wait for his treasures.
A fire(BA) unfanned will consume him(BB)
and devour what is left in his tent.(BC)
27 The heavens will expose his guilt;
the earth will rise up against him.(BD)
28 A flood will carry off his house,(BE)
rushing waters[b] on the day of God’s wrath.(BF)
29 Such is the fate God allots the wicked,
the heritage appointed for them by God.”(BG)
Job 20
International Children’s Bible
Job 20
International Children’s Bible
Zophar Answers
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2 “My troubled thoughts cause me to answer.
I am very upset.
3 I hear you criticize, and I am insulted.
But I understand how to answer you.
4 “You know how it has been for a long time.
It has been this way since man was put on the earth.
5 The happiness of an evil person is very short.
The joy of a person without God lasts only a moment.
6 His pride may be as high as the heavens.
His head may touch the clouds.
7 But he will be gone forever, like his own dung.
People who knew him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8 He will fly away like a dream.
He will not be found again.
He will be chased away like a vision in the night.
9 Those who saw him will not see him again.
The place where he lived will see him no more.
10 His children will have to make up for how he mistreated the poor.
He will have to give his wealth back with his own hands.
11 He has the strength of his youth in his bones.
But it will lie with him in the dust of death.
12 “Evil may taste sweet in the evil person’s mouth.
He may hide it under his tongue.
13 He cannot stand to let go of it.
So he keeps it in his mouth.
14 But his food will turn sour in his stomach.
It will be like the poison of a snake inside him.
15 He has swallowed riches, but he will spit them out.
God will make the evil person’s stomach vomit them up.
16 He will suck the poison of snakes.
The snake’s poisonous fangs will kill him.
17 He will not admire the sparkling streams
or the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
18 He must give back what he worked for without eating it.
He will not enjoy the money he made from his trading.
19 This is because he has troubled the poor people and left them with nothing.
He has taken houses he did not build.
20 “The evil person has no rest from his desire.
Nothing escapes his selfishness.
21 But nothing will be left for him to eat.
His riches will not continue.
22 When he still has plenty, trouble will catch up to him.
Great misery will come down on him.
23 The evil person may eat until his stomach is full.
But then God will send his burning anger against him.
God will send blows of punishment down on him like rain.
24 The evil person may run away from an iron weapon.
But then a bronze arrow will stab him.
25 He will pull the arrow out of his back.
He will pull its point out of his liver.
Terrors will come over him.
26 Total darkness waits for his treasure.
A fire not fanned by people will destroy him.
That fire will burn up what is left of his tent.
27 The heavens will show his guilt.
The earth will rise up against him.
28 A flood will carry his house away.
The rushing waters will come on the day of God’s anger.
29 This is what God plans for evil people.
This is what he has decided they will receive.”
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
International Children’s Bible (ICB) 
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.