| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 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"My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed. |
| 3I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer. | 3I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply. |
| 4Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth, | 4"Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever since mankind was placed on the earth, |
| 5That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? | 5that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment. |
| 6Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; | 6Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds, |
| 7Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he? | 7he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?' |
| 8He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. | 8Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found, banished like a vision of the night. |
| 9The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him. | 9The eye that saw him will not see him again; his place will look on him no more. |
| 10His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods. | 10His children must make amends to the poor; his own hands must give back his wealth. |
| 11His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust. | 11The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie with him in the dust. |
| 12Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; | 12"Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue, |
| 13Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth: | 13though he cannot bear to let it go and lets it linger in his mouth, |
| 14Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him. | 14yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him. |
| 15He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. | 15He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up. |
| 16He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him. | 16He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him. |
| 17He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. | 17He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream. |
| 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. | 18What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading. |
| 19Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not; | 19For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses he did not build. |
| 20Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired. | 20"Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his treasure. |
| 21There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods. | 21Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure. |
| 22In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him. | 22In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him. |
| 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. | 23When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows on him. |
| 24He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through. | 24Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him. |
| 25It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him. | 25He pulls it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over him; |
| 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. | 26total darkness lies in wait for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent. |
| 27The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him. | 27The heavens will expose his guilt; the earth will rise up against him. |
| 28The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath. | 28A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God's wrath. |
| 29This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God. | 29Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God." |
|
