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Job 20 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Zophar’s Sermon on the Wicked Man
Zophar’s Sermon on the Wicked Man
Job 20:1Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:
Job 20:2“Therefore my anxious thoughts make me answer,
Because of the turmoil within me.
Job 20:3I have heard the rebuke that reproaches me,
And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer.
Job 20:4“Do you not know this of old,
Since man was placed on earth,
Job 20:5That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment?
Job 20:6Though his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens,
And his head reaches to the clouds,
Job 20:7Yet he will perish forever like his own refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
Job 20:8He will fly away like a dream, and not be found;
Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
Job 20:9The eye that saw him will see him no more,
Nor will his place behold him anymore.
Job 20:10His children will seek the favor of the poor,
And his hands will restore his wealth.
Job 20:11His bones are full of his youthful vigor,
But it will lie down with him in the dust.
Job 20:12“Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
And he hides it under his tongue,
Job 20:13Though he spares it and does not forsake it,
But still keeps it in his mouth,
Job 20:14Yet his food in his stomach turns sour;
It becomes cobra venom within him.
Job 20:15He swallows down riches
And vomits them up again;
God casts them out of his belly.
Job 20:16He will suck the poison of cobras;
The viper’s tongue will slay him.
Job 20:17He will not see the streams,
The rivers flowing with honey and cream.
Job 20:18He will restore that for which he labored,
And will not swallow it down;
From the proceeds of business
He will get no enjoyment.
Job 20:19For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor,
He has violently seized a house which he did not build.
Job 20:20“Because he knows no quietness in his heart,[fn]
He will not save anything he desires.
Job 20:21Nothing is left for him to eat;
Therefore his well-being will not last.
Job 20:22In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress;
Every hand of misery will come against him.
Job 20:23When he is about to fill his stomach,
God will cast on him the fury of His wrath,
And will rain it on him while he is eating.
Job 20:24He will flee from the iron weapon;
A bronze bow will pierce him through.
Job 20:25It is drawn, and comes out of the body;
Yes, the glittering point comes out of his gall.
Terrors come upon him;
Job 20:26Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
An unfanned fire will consume him;
It shall go ill with him who is left in his tent.
Job 20:27The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
And the earth will rise up against him.
Job 20:28The increase of his house will depart,
And his goods will flow away in the day of His wrath.
Job 20:29This is the portion from God for a wicked man,
The heritage appointed to him by God.”
NKJV Footnotes
Literally belly
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Job Chapter 20 — Additional Translations: