Job 20

1 Then Zophar replied,

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,

2 “I am very perturbed about what you have said, so I want to reply very quickly.

“I'm forced to reply because I'm really upset!

3 By saying these things you have insulted me, but I know how (OR, because I understand very much) I can reply to you.

What I hear you say insults me, but I know how to reply to you!

4 “Do you not know that from long ago, ever since people were first put on the earth,

Don't you know that since ancient times, since human beings were put on this earth,

5 wicked people [like you] do not continue to rejoice for a long time, ungodly people are happy only for a (moment/very short time) [HYP]?

that the triumph of the wicked doesn't last long, that those who reject God are only happy for a short time?

6 [Even] though their reputation/pride reaches up to the sky and their fame goes up as high as the clouds,

Even though they are so tall they reach the heavens, even though their heads reach the clouds,

7 they will disappear forever, like their own dung, and those who knew them will ask, ‘(Where did they go/What happened to them)?’

they will vanish forever like their own excrement. People who knew them will ask, ‘Where have they gone?’

8 They will be forgotten like [SIM] a dream is, and they will exist no more. They will vanish, like visions [that people see] during the night.

They will vanish like a dream, never to be found, fleeing like a vision of the night.

9 Those who saw those people previously will never see them again; even their families [MTY] will not see them any more.

Those who once saw them will not see them anymore; their families will never set eyes on them again.

10 Their children will be forced to return the valuable things that those children stole from poor people [DOU].

Their children will have to pay back the poor; they will have to return their wealth.

11 Previously their bodies were young and strong, but they will die and [their bodies will] be buried in the ground.

Though the wicked have bodies that are young and strong, they will die and be buried.

12 “Doing wicked things was like having sweet food in their mouths, and they wanted to continue to taste it.

Though evil tastes sweet in their mouths and they hide it under their tongues,

13 And they did not want to stop doing those things,

not letting it go but keeping it in their mouths,

14 [but some day] the evil things that they enjoyed doing will become like food [that they swallow] [and which becomes] as bitter as snake venom.

in their stomachs it turns bitter, becoming like snake venom inside them.

15 Wicked people will not continue to keep the money they have accumulated, like people do not keep the food that they vomit. God takes their wealth from them.

They swallow wealth and vomit it up again; God forces it from their stomachs.

16 What wicked people do is [like] [MET] swallowing snake venom; it will kill them like [MET] the bite of a poisonous snake kills people.

They suck in snake venom; the bite of the viper will kill them.

17 They will not remain alive to see abundant blessings [IDM] [from God], milk and olive oil and honey, that are [so abundant they are] like [MET] a stream that flows by.

They will not live to enjoy the streams, the rivers of milk and honey.

18 They will be forced to give back the things that they stole from the poor; they will not be able to continue to enjoy those things. They will not remain happy because of what they got from their businesses,

They will have to give back what they have gained and will not have any benefit; they will not enjoy any of their profits.

19 because they oppressed poor people and refused to help them, and they took other people’s houses [by cheating them].

For they have oppressed and abandoned the poor; they have seized houses they did not build.

20 “They were always greedy and never satisfied. They just keep dreaming about owning more and more things.

Because their greed was never satisfied, nothing they liked is left that they didn't consume.

21 When they finished eating their food, there was never anything left over [because they had greedily eaten it all]; but now their prosperity will end.

Nothing escapes their ravenous appetites, so their happiness doesn't last long.

22 When they are extremely prosperous/wealthy, they will suddenly experience a lot of trouble. (Misery will strike them and crush them [PRS]/They will suffer very greatly).

Even when the wicked have all that they want they run into trouble; all kinds of misery will fall upon them.

23 When the wicked people are filling their stomachs, God will show that he is very angry with them and punish them; the punishment [that he gives them] will be like [MET] rain falling on them.

While they are busy filling their bellies, God's hostility will burn against them, raining down on them.

24 They will try to escape from [being killed by] iron weapons, but arrows with bronze points will pierce them.

As they flee to escape an iron weapon, a bronze arrow will strike them down.

25 The arrows will [go completely through their bodies and] stick out of their backs; the shiny points of the arrows will have blood dripping from them, and those wicked people will be terrified.

The arrow is pulled out of their gall bladder, glistening with blood. They are absolutely terrified!

26 Their valuable possessions will all be destroyed; a fire that is not lit by humans, [but by God, ] will burn them up and also destroy the things that are left in their tents.

All they value will disappear into the darkness; divine fire will destroy them; all they have left will go up in smoke.

27 The [angels in] heaven [MTY] will reveal the sins that those wicked people have committed, and [people on] earth will stand up and testify against them.

The heavens reveal what they have done wrong; the earth will rise up against them.

28 When God punishes [MTY] [people], all the possessions in the wicked people’s houses will be carried away by a flood.

All their possessions will be carried from their homes; they will be dragged off on the day of God's judgment.

29 That is what will happen to wicked people [like you]; that is what God has decided will happen to them.”

This is the share the wicked receive from God, the inheritance God says they should have.”