| English Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said: | 1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: |
| 2“Therefore my thoughts answer me, because of my haste within me. | 2This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer, because I am upset! |
| 3I hear censure that insults me, and out of my understanding a spirit answers me. | 3I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding makes me reply. |
| 4Do you not know this from of old, since man was placed on earth, | 4Don't you know that ever since antiquity, from the time man was placed on earth, |
| 5that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment? | 5the joy of the wicked has been brief and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment? |
| 6Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to 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?" |
| 8He will fly away like a dream and not be found; he will be chased away 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 see him no more, nor will his place any more behold him. | 9The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his household will no longer see him. |
| 10His children will seek the favor of the poor, and his hands will give back his wealth. | 10His children will beg from the poor, for his own hands must give back his wealth. |
| 11His bones are full of his youthful vigor, but it will lie down with him in the dust. | 11His bones may be full of youthful vigor, but will lie down with him in the grave. |
| 12“Though evil is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue, | 12Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue, |
| 13though he is loath to let it go and holds it in his mouth, | 13though he cherishes it and will not let it go but keeps it in his mouth, |
| 14yet his food is turned in his stomach; it is the venom of cobras within him. | 14yet the food in his stomach turns into cobras' venom inside him. |
| 15He swallows down riches and vomits them up again; God casts them out of his belly. | 15He swallows wealth but must vomit it up; God will force it from his stomach. |
| 16He will suck the poison of cobras; the tongue of a viper will kill him. | 16He will suck the poison of cobras; a viper's fangs will kill him. |
| 17He will not look upon the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds. | 17He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream. |
| 18He will give back the fruit of his toil and will not swallow it down; from the profit of his trading he will get no enjoyment. | 18He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he doesn't enjoy the profits from his trading. |
| 19For he has crushed and abandoned the poor; he has seized a house that he did not build. | 19For he oppressed and abandoned the poor; he seized a house he did not build. |
| 20“Because he knew no contentment in his belly, he will not let anything in which he delights escape him. | 20Because his appetite is never satisfied, he does not let anything he desires escape. |
| 21There was nothing left after he had eaten; therefore his prosperity will not endure. | 21Nothing is left for him to consume; therefore, his prosperity will not last. |
| 22In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress; the hand of everyone in misery will come against him. | 22At the height of his success distress will come to him; the full weight of misery will crush him. |
| 23To fill his belly to the full, God will send his burning anger against him and rain it upon him into his body. | 23When he fills his stomach, God will send His burning anger against him, raining it down on him while he is eating. |
| 24He will flee from an iron weapon; a bronze arrow will strike him through. | 24If he flees from an iron weapon, an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him. |
| 25It is drawn forth and comes out of his body; the glittering point comes out of his gallbladder; terrors come upon him. | 25He pulls it out of his back, the flashing tip out of his liver. Terrors come over him. |
| 26Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures; a fire not fanned will devour him; what is left in his tent will be consumed. | 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 reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. | 27The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. |
| 28The possessions of his house will be carried away, dragged off in the day of God’s wrath. | 28The possessions in his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God's anger. |
| 29This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the heritage decreed for him by God.” | 29This is the wicked man's lot from God, the inheritance God ordained for him. |
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