Job 20:12
New International Version
“Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue,

New Living Translation
“They enjoyed the sweet taste of wickedness, letting it melt under their tongue.

English Standard Version
“Though evil is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue,

Berean Standard Bible
Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,

King James Bible
Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;

New King James Version
“Though evil is sweet in his mouth, And he hides it under his tongue,

New American Standard Bible
“Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth And he hides it under his tongue,

NASB 1995
“Though evil is sweet in his mouth And he hides it under his tongue,

NASB 1977
“Though evil is sweet in his mouth, And he hides it under his tongue,

Legacy Standard Bible
“Though evil is sweet in his mouth And he hides it under his tongue,

Amplified Bible
“Though evil and wickedness are sweet in his mouth And he hides it under his tongue,

Christian Standard Bible
Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,

American Standard Version
Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, Though he hide it under his tongue,

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
If his evil will be sweet in his mouth and he will hide deceit under his tongue

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Though evil be sweet in his mouth, though he will hide it under his tongue;

Contemporary English Version
Sinners love the taste of sin; they relish every bite

Douay-Rheims Bible
For when evil shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue.

English Revised Version
Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue....

International Standard Version
Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth, though he conceals it under his tongue,

JPS Tanakh 1917
Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, Though he hide it under his tongue;

Literal Standard Version
Though he sweetens evil in his mouth, hides it under his tongue,

Majority Standard Bible
Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,

New American Bible
Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, and he hides it under his tongue,

NET Bible
"If evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue,

New Revised Standard Version
“Though wickedness is sweet in their mouth, though they hide it under their tongues,

New Heart English Bible
"Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue,

Webster's Bible Translation
Though wickedness may be sweet in his mouth, though he may hide it under his tongue;

World English Bible
“Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue,

Young's Literal Translation
Though he doth sweeten evil in his mouth, Doth hide it under his tongue,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Zophar: Destruction Awaits the Wicked
11The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie down with him in the dust. 12Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue, 13though he cannot bear to let it go and keeps it in his mouth,…

Cross References
2 Samuel 11:12
"Stay here one more day," David said to Uriah, "and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next.

Job 15:16
how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?

Psalm 10:7
His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.

Proverbs 19:28
A corrupt witness mocks justice, and a wicked mouth swallows iniquity.

Jeremiah 2:19
Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me," declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.


Treasury of Scripture

Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;

wickedness

Job 15:16
How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?

Genesis 3:6
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Proverbs 9:17,18
Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant…

he hide

Psalm 10:7
His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

Psalm 109:17,18
As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him…

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Job 20
1. Zophar shows the state and portion of the wicked














(12) Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth.--He draws a picture of the wicked man after the pattern of a gourmand or glutton, which, if it were intended to apply to Job, was a fresh instance of heartless cruelty, as well as of an entire want of discernment of character, and of unfitness for the office of judge he was so ready to assume. It is possible that the reproach here aimed at Job was that of inordinate love of riches, which Zophar extracts from the bare fact of his having been a wealthy man.

Verses 12, 13. - Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth; i.e. though the wicked man delight in his wickedness, and gloat over it, and keep the thought of it in his mind, as a gourmand keeps, so long as he can, a delicious taste in his mouth; though he, as it were, hide it under his tongue, in order not to let it escape him; though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth, yet, notwithstanding all this, disgust and nausea arrive in course of time (see the next two verses). It is, perhaps, the most surprising among the phenomena of wickedness that men can gloat over it, voluntarily recur to it, make a boast of it, recount signal instances of it to their friends, and seem to find a satisfaction in the recollection. One would have expected that shame and self-disapproval and fear of retribution would have led them to dismiss their wicked acts from their thoughts as soon as possible. But certainly the fact is otherwise.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Though
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

evil
רָעָ֑ה (rā·‘āh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 7451: Bad, evil

is sweet
תַּמְתִּ֣יק (tam·tîq)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 4985: To become or be sweet or pleasant

in his mouth
בְּפִ֣יו (bə·p̄îw)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6310: The mouth, edge, portion, side, according to

and he conceals
יַ֝כְחִידֶ֗נָּה (yaḵ·ḥî·ḏen·nāh)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 3582: To secrete, by act, word, to destroy

it under
תַּ֣חַת (ta·ḥaṯ)
Preposition
Strong's 8478: The bottom, below, in lieu of

his tongue,
לְשׁוֹנֽוֹ׃ (lə·šō·w·nōw)
Noun - common singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3956: The tongue


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OT Poetry: Job 20:12 Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth (Jb)
Job 20:11
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