Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
New Revised Standard NRS
1 Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said:
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Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2 Therefore various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind is hurried away to different things.
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"Pay attention! My thoughts urge me to answer, because of the agitation within me.
3 The doctrine with which thou reprovest me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding shall answer for me.
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I hear censure that insults me, and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me.
4 This I know from the beginning, since man was placed upon the earth,
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Do you not know this from of old, ever since mortals were placed on earth,
5 That the praise of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment.
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that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless is but for a moment?
6 If his pride mount up even to heaven, and his head touch the clouds:
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Even though they mount up high as the heavens, and their head reaches to the clouds,
7 In the end he shall be destroyed like a dunghill, and they that had seen him, shall say: Where is he?
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they will perish forever like their own dung; those who have seen them will say, "Where are they?'
8 As a dream that fleeth away he shall not be found, he shall pass as a vision of the night:
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They will fly away like a dream, and not be found; they will be chased away like a vision of the night.
9 The eyes that had seen him, shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more behold him.
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The eye that saw them will see them no more, nor will their place behold them any longer.
10 His children shall be oppressed with want, and his hands shall render to him his sorrow.
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Their children will seek the favor of the poor, and their hands will give back their wealth.
11 His bones shall be filled with the vices of his youth, and they shall sleep with him in the dust.
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Their bodies, once full of youth, will lie down in the dust with them.
12 For when evil shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue.
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"Though wickedness is sweet in their mouth, though they hide it under their tongues,
13 He will spare it, and not leave it, and will hide it in his throat.
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though they are loath to let it go, and hold it in their mouths,
14 His bread in his belly shall be turned into the gall of asps within him,
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yet their food is turned in their stomachs; it is the venom of asps within them.
15 The riches which he hath swallowed, he shall vomit up, and God shall draw them out of his belly.
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They swallow down riches and vomit them up again; God casts them out of their bellies.
16 He shall suck the head of asps, and the viper’s tongue shall kill him.
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They will suck the poison of asps; the tongue of a viper will kill them.
17 Let him not see the streams of the river, the brooks of honey and of butter.
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They will not look on the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds.
18 He shall be punished for all that he did, and yet shall not be consumed: according to the multitude of his devices so also shall he suffer.
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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.
19 Because he broke in and stripped the poor: he hath violently taken away a house which he did not build.
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For they have crushed and abandoned the poor, they have seized a house that they did not build.
20 And yet his belly was not filled: and when he hath the things he coveted, he shall not be able to possess them.
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"They knew no quiet in their bellies; in their greed they let nothing escape.
21 There was nothing left of his meat, and therefore nothing shall continue of his goods:
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There was nothing left after they had eaten; therefore their prosperity will not endure.
22 When he shall be filled, he shall be straitened, he shall burn, and every sorrow shall fall upon him.
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In full sufficiency they will be in distress; all the force of misery will come upon them.
23 May his belly be filled, that God may send forth the wrath of his indignation upon him, and rain down his war upon him.
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To fill their belly to the full God will send his fierce anger into them, and rain it upon them as their food.
24 He shall flee from weapons of iron, and shall fall upon a bow of brass.
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They will flee from an iron weapon; a bronze arrow will strike them through.
25 The sword is drawn out, and cometh forth from its scabbard, and glittereth in his bitterness: the terrible ones shall go and come upon him.
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It is drawn forth and comes out of their body, and the glittering point comes out of their gall; terrors come upon them.
26 All darkness is hid in his secret places: a fire that is not kindled shall devour him, he shall be afflicted when left in his tabernacle.
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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.
27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him.
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The heavens will reveal their iniquity, and the earth will rise up against them.
28 The offspring of his house shall be exposed, he shall be pulled down in the day of God’s wrath.
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The possessions of their house will be carried away, dragged off in the day of God's wrath.
29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his doings from the Lord.
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This is the portion of the wicked from God, the heritage decreed for them by God."
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.
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.