20:1  Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,

20:2  "Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me, Even by reason of my haste that is in me.

20:3  I have heard the reproof which puts me to shame; The spirit of my understanding answers me.

20:4  Don't you know this from old time, Since man was placed on earth,

20:5  That the triumphing of the wicked is short, The joy of the godless but for a moment?

20:6  Though his height mount up to the heavens, And his head reach to the clouds,

20:7  Yet he shall perish forever like his own dung, Those who have seen him shall say, 'Where is he?'

20:8  He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: Yes, he shall be chased away like a vision of the night.

20:9  The eye which saw him shall see him no more, Neither shall his place any more see him.

20:10  His children shall seek the favor of the poor. His hands shall give back his wealth.

20:11  His bones are full of his youth, But youth shall lie down with him in the dust.

20:12  "Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, Though he hide it under his tongue,

20:13  Though he spare it, and will not let it go, But keep it still within his mouth;

20:14  Yet his food in his bowels is turned. It is cobra venom within him.

20:15  He has swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again. God will cast them out of his belly.

20:16  He shall suck cobra venom. The viper's tongue shall kill him.

20:17  He shall not look at the rivers, The flowing streams of honey and butter.

20:18  That for which he labored he shall restore, and shall not swallow it down; According to the substance that he has gotten, he shall not rejoice.

20:19  For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has violently taken away a house, and he shall not build it up.

20:20  "Because he knew no quietness within him, He shall not save anything of that in which he delights.

20:21  There was nothing left that he didn't devour, Therefore his prosperity shall not endure.

20:22  In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress shall overtake him: The hand of everyone who is in misery shall come on him.

20:23  When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating.

20:24  He shall flee from the iron weapon. The bronze arrow shall strike him through.

20:25  He draws it forth, and it comes out of his body. Yes, the glittering point comes out of his liver. Terrors are on him.

20:26  All darkness is laid up for his treasures. An unfanned fire shall devour him. It shall consume that which is left in his tent.

20:27  The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, The earth shall rise up against him.

20:28  The increase of his house shall depart; They shall rush away in the day of his wrath.

20:29  This is the portion of a wicked man from God, The heritage appointed to him by God."