New Revised Standard NRS
Common English Bible CEB
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
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Zophar from Naamah said:
2 "Pay attention! My thoughts urge me to answer, because of the agitation within me.
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Therefore, my troubled thoughts make me turn back— because of my inner turmoil.
3 I hear censure that insults me, and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me.
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I hear teaching that insults me, but I am forced to answer based on my own understanding.
4 Do you not know this from of old, ever since mortals were placed on earth,
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Do you know this from long ago— from when humans were placed on earth—
5 that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless is but for a moment?
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that the rejoicing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless, brief?
6 Even though they mount up high as the heavens, and their head reaches to the clouds,
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Though their height reaches heaven and their heads touch the clouds,
7 they will perish forever like their own dung; those who have seen them will say, "Where are they?'
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they will perish forever like their dung; those who saw them will say, "Where are they?"
8 They will fly away like a dream, and not be found; they will be chased away like a vision of the night.
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They will disappear like a dream, and none will find them, carried away like a nighttime vision.
9 The eye that saw them will see them no more, nor will their place behold them any longer.
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The eye that saw them will do so no more; they won't be seen again at home.
10 Their children will seek the favor of the poor, and their hands will give back their wealth.
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Their children will repay the poor; their hands will give back their wealth.
11 Their bodies, once full of youth, will lie down in the dust with them.
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Vigor filled their bones and now sleeps with them in the dust.
12 "Though wickedness is sweet in their mouth, though they hide it under their tongues,
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Though wickedness is sweet in their mouths, they hide it under their tongues;
13 though they are loath to let it go, and hold it in their mouths,
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they like it, won't let it go; they hold it in their cheeks.
14 yet their food is turned in their stomachs; it is the venom of asps within them.
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Food turns their stomachs, becoming a cobra's poison inside.
15 They swallow down riches and vomit them up again; God casts them out of their bellies.
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They swallow wealth and vomit it; God dislodges it from their belly.
16 They will suck the poison of asps; the tongue of a viper will kill them.
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They suck cobra's poison; a viper's tongue kills them.
17 They will not look on the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds.
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They won't experience streams, rivers of honey, and brooks of cream.
18 They will give back the fruit of their toil, and will not swallow it down; from the profit of their trading they will get no enjoyment.
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They won't receive the reward for their labor; they won't enjoy the wealth from their business.
19 For they have crushed and abandoned the poor, they have seized a house that they did not build.
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They crushed and abandoned the poor; stole a house they didn't build;
20 "They knew no quiet in their bellies; in their greed they let nothing escape.
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didn't know contentment in their belly; couldn't escape with their treasure.
21 There was nothing left after they had eaten; therefore their prosperity will not endure.
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Nothing remained of their food, so their riches will not endure.
22 In full sufficiency they will be in distress; all the force of misery will come upon them.
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Even in their plenty, they are hard-pressed; all sorts of trouble come on them.
23 To fill their belly to the full God will send his fierce anger into them, and rain it upon them as their food.
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Let God fill their belly, unleash his burning anger on them, rain punishing blows on them.
24 They will flee from an iron weapon; a bronze arrow will strike them through.
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If they flee an iron weapon, a bronze bow pierces them.
25 It is drawn forth and comes out of their body, and the glittering point comes out of their gall; terrors come upon them.
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They pull it out, but it sticks out from their backs; its shaft in their liver brings terror.
26 Utter darkness is laid up for their treasures; a fire fanned by no one will devour them; what is left in their tent will be consumed.
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Complete darkness waits for their treasured possessions; fire that no one stoked consumes them; what's left in their tent is ruined.
27 The heavens will reveal their iniquity, and the earth will rise up against them.
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Heaven exposes their guilt; earth opposes them.
28 The possessions of their house will be carried away, dragged off in the day of God's wrath.
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Their household wealth will be carried off by rushing streams on the day of his anger.
29 This is the portion of the wicked from God, the heritage decreed for them by God."
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This is a wicked person's lot from God, their heritage decreed by God.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible