New International Version | Christian Standard Bible |
1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: | 1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: |
2"My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed. | 2This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer, because I am upset! |
3I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply. | 3I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding makes me reply. |
4"Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever since mankind was placed on the earth, | 4Don't you know that ever since antiquity, from the time a human was placed on earth, |
5that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment. | 5the joy of the wicked has been brief and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment? |
6Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds, | 6Though his arrogance reaches heaven, and his head touches the clouds, |
7he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?' | 7he will vanish forever like his own dung. Those who know him will ask, "Where is he?" |
8Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found, banished like a vision of the night. | 8He will fly away like a dream and never be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night. |
9The eye that saw him will not see him again; his place will look on him no more. | 9The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his household will no longer see him. |
10His children must make amends to the poor; his own hands must give back his wealth. | 10His children will beg from the poor, for his own hands must give back his wealth. |
11The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie with him in the dust. | 11His frame may be full of youthful vigor, but it will lie down with him in dust. |
12"Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue, | 12Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue, |
13though he cannot bear to let it go and lets it linger in his mouth, | 13though he cherishes it and will not let it go but keeps it in his mouth, |
14yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him. | 14yet the food in his stomach turns into cobras' venom inside him. |
15He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up. | 15He swallows wealth but must vomit it up; God will force it from his stomach. |
16He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him. | 16He will suck the poison of cobras; a viper's fangs will kill him. |
17He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream. | 17He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and curds. |
18What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading. | 18He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he doesn't enjoy the profits from his trading. |
19For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses he did not build. | 19For he oppressed and abandoned the poor; he seized a house he did not build. |
20"Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his treasure. | 20Because his appetite is never satisfied, he does not let anything he desires escape. |
21Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure. | 21Nothing is left for him to consume; therefore, his prosperity will not last. |
22In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him. | 22At the height of his success distress will come to him; the full weight of misery will crush him. |
23When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows on him. | 23When he fills his stomach, God will send his burning anger against him, raining it down on him while he is eating. |
24Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him. | 24If he flees from an iron weapon, an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him. |
25He pulls it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over him; | 25He pulls it out of his back, the flashing tip out of his liver. Terrors come over him. |
26total darkness lies in wait for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent. | 26Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned by human hands will consume him; it will feed on what is left in his tent. |
27The heavens will expose his guilt; the earth will rise up against him. | 27The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. |
28A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God's wrath. | 28The possessions in his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God's anger. |
29Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God." | 29This is the wicked person's lot from God, the inheritance God ordained for him. |
New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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