New International Version NIV
New Living Translation NLT
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
2 “My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed.
2 “I must reply because I am greatly disturbed.
3 I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply.
3 I’ve had to endure your insults, but now my spirit prompts me to reply.
4 “Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever since mankind 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,
5 that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.
5 the triumph of the wicked has been short lived and the joy of the godless has been only temporary?
6 Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds,
6 Though the pride of the godless reaches to the heavens and their heads touch the clouds,
7 he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
7 yet they will vanish forever, thrown away like their own dung. Those who knew them will ask, ‘Where are they?’
8 Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found, banished like a vision of the night.
8 They will fade like a dream and not be found. They will vanish like a vision in the night.
9 The eye that saw him will not see him again; his place will look on him no more.
9 Those who once saw them will see them no more. Their families will never see them again.
10 His children must make amends to the poor; his own hands must give back his wealth.
10 Their children will beg from the poor, for they must give back their stolen riches.
11 The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie with him in the dust.
11 Though they are young, their bones will lie in the dust.
12 “Though 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.
13 though he cannot bear to let it go and lets it linger in his mouth,
13 They savored it, holding it long in their mouths.
14 yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him.
14 But suddenly the food in their bellies turns sour, a poisonous venom in their stomach.
15 He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up.
15 They will vomit the wealth they swallowed. God won’t let them keep it down.
16 He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him.
16 They will suck the poison of cobras. The viper will kill them.
17 He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
17 They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil or rivers of milk and honey.
18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.
18 They will give back everything they worked for. Their wealth will bring them no joy.
19 For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses he did not build.
19 For they oppressed the poor and left them destitute. They foreclosed on their homes.
20 “Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his treasure.
20 They were always greedy and never satisfied. Nothing remains of all the things they dreamed about.
21 Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure.
21 Nothing is left after they finish gorging themselves. Therefore, their prosperity will not endure.
22 In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake 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 When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows on him.
23 May God give them a bellyful of trouble. May God rain down his anger upon them.
24 Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.
24 When they try to escape an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce them.
25 He pulls it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over him;
25 The arrow is pulled from their back, and the arrowhead glistens with blood. The terrors of death are upon them.
26 total darkness lies in wait for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
26 Their treasures will be thrown into deepest darkness. A wildfire will devour their goods, consuming all they have left.
27 The heavens will expose his guilt; the earth will rise up against him.
27 The heavens will reveal their guilt, and the earth will testify against them.
28 A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.
28 A flood will sweep away their house. God’s anger will descend on them in torrents.
29 Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God.”
29 This is the reward that God gives the wicked. It is the inheritance decreed by God.”
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.