| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Then Zophar the Naamathite answered: | 1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: |
| 2"This is why my troubled thoughts bring me back--because of my feelings within me. | 2“I must reply because I am greatly disturbed. |
| 3When I hear a reproof that dishonors me, then my understanding prompts me to answer. | 3I’ve had to endure your insults, but now my spirit prompts me to reply. |
| 4"Surely you know that it has been from old, ever since humankind was placed on the earth, | 4“Don’t you realize that from the beginning of time, ever since people were first placed on the earth, |
| 5that the elation of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment. | 5the triumph of the wicked has been short lived and the joy of the godless has been only temporary? |
| 6Even though his stature reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds, | 6Though the pride of the godless reaches to the heavens and their heads touch the clouds, |
| 7he will perish forever, like his own excrement; those who used to see him will say, 'Where is he?' | 7yet they will vanish forever, thrown away like their own dung. Those who knew them will ask, ‘Where are they?’ |
| 8Like a dream he flies away, never again to be found, and like a vision of the night he is put to flight. | 8They will fade like a dream and not be found. They will vanish like a vision in the night. |
| 9People who had seen him will not see him again, and the place where he was will recognize him no longer. | 9Those who once saw them will see them no more. Their families will never see them again. |
| 10His sons must recompense the poor; his own hands must return his wealth. | 10Their children will beg from the poor, for they must give back their stolen riches. |
| 11His bones were full of his youthful vigor, but that vigor will lie down with him in the dust. | 11Though they are young, their bones will lie in the dust. |
| 12"If evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue, | 12“They enjoyed the sweet taste of wickedness, letting it melt under their tongue. |
| 13if he retains it for himself and does not let it go, and holds it fast in his mouth, | 13They savored it, holding it long in their mouths. |
| 14his food is turned sour in his stomach; it becomes the venom of serpents within him. | 14But suddenly the food in their bellies turns sour, a poisonous venom in their stomach. |
| 15The wealth that he consumed he vomits up, God will make him throw it out of his stomach. | 15They will vomit the wealth they swallowed. God won’t let them keep it down. |
| 16He sucks the poison of serpents; the fangs of a viper kill him. | 16They will suck the poison of cobras. The viper will kill them. |
| 17He will not look on the streams, the rivers, which are the torrents of honey and butter. | 17They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil or rivers of milk and honey. |
| 18He gives back the ill-gotten gain without assimilating it; he will not enjoy the wealth from his commerce. | 18They will give back everything they worked for. Their wealth will bring them no joy. |
| 19For he has oppressed the poor and abandoned them; he has seized a house which he did not build. | 19For they oppressed the poor and left them destitute. They foreclosed on their homes. |
| 20For he knows no satisfaction in his appetite; he does not let anything he desires escape. | 20They were always greedy and never satisfied. Nothing remains of all the things they dreamed about. |
| 21"Nothing is left for him to devour; that is why his prosperity does not last. | 21Nothing is left after they finish gorging themselves. Therefore, their prosperity will not endure. |
| 22In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress overtakes him. the full force of misery will come upon him. | 22“In the midst of plenty, they will run into trouble and be overcome by misery. |
| 23"While he is filling his belly, God sends his burning anger against him, and rains down his blows upon him. | 23May God give them a bellyful of trouble. May God rain down his anger upon them. |
| 24If he flees from an iron weapon, then an arrow from a bronze bow pierces him. | 24When they try to escape an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce them. |
| 25When he pulls it out and it comes out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver, terrors come over him. | 25The arrow is pulled from their back, and the arrowhead glistens with blood. The terrors of death are upon them. |
| 26Total darkness waits to receive his treasures; a fire which has not been kindled will consume him and devour what is left in his tent. | 26Their treasures will be thrown into deepest darkness. A wildfire will devour their goods, consuming all they have left. |
| 27The heavens reveal his iniquity; the earth rises up against him. | 27The heavens will reveal their guilt, and the earth will testify against them. |
| 28A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God's wrath. | 28A flood will sweep away their house. God’s anger will descend on them in torrents. |
| 29Such is the lot God allots the wicked, and the heritage of his appointment from God." | 29This is the reward that God gives the wicked. It is the inheritance decreed by God.” |
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