| Holman Christian Standard Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: | 1Then Zophar from Naamath replied: |
| 2This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer, because I am upset! | 2"Therefore my anxious thoughts cause me to answer because I'm agitated within me. |
| 3I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding makes me reply. | 3Whenever I hear an insulting rebuke, I respond from my spirit because I understand." |
| 4Don't you know that ever since antiquity, from the time man was placed on earth, | 4"Haven't you known this from ancient times, since mankind was placed on the earth? |
| 5the joy of the wicked has been brief and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment? | 5The wicked triumph only briefly; the joy of the godless is momentary. |
| 6Though his arrogance reaches heaven, and his head touches the clouds, | 6Though he grow as tall as the sky, or though his head touches the clouds, |
| 7he will vanish forever like his own dung. Those who know him will ask, "Where is he?" | 7he'll perish forever, like his own excrement; those who saw him will ask, 'Where is he?' |
| 8He will fly away like a dream and never be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night. | 8He'll vanish like a dream, and no one will find him; he will be chased away like a night vision." |
| 9The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his household will no longer see him. | 9"An eye that gazes at him won't do so again; and his place won't even recognize him. |
| 10His children will beg from the poor, for his own hands must give back his wealth. | 10His sons will make amends to the poor; their hands will return his wealth. |
| 11His bones may be full of youthful vigor, but will lie down with him in the grave. | 11Though his bones were full of youthful vigor; yet they will lie down with him in the dust. |
| 12Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue, | 12Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth, though he conceals it under his tongue, |
| 13though he cherishes it and will not let it go but keeps it in his mouth, | 13though he savors it and delays swallowing it so he can taste it again and again in his mouth, |
| 14yet the food in his stomach turns into cobras' venom inside him. | 14his food will turn rancid in his stomach— it will become a cobra's poison inside him. |
| 15He swallows wealth but must vomit it up; God will force it from his stomach. | 15"Though he swallows wealth, he will vomit it; God will dislodge it from his stomach. |
| 16He will suck the poison of cobras; a viper's fangs will kill him. | 16He will suck the poison of cobras; the fangs of a viper will slay him. |
| 17He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream. | 17He won't look at the rivers— the torrents of honey and curd. |
| 18He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he doesn't enjoy the profits from his trading. | 18"He will restore what he has attained from his work and won't consume it; he won't enjoy the profits from his business transactions, |
| 19For he oppressed and abandoned the poor; he seized a house he did not build. | 19because he has crushed and abandoned the poor; he has seized a house that he didn't build. |
| 20Because his appetite is never satisfied, he does not let anything he desires escape. | 20"Since his appetite won't quit; he won't let anything escape his lust. |
| 21Nothing is left for him to consume; therefore, his prosperity will not last. | 21Because nothing was left for him to devour, therefore his prosperity won't last. |
| 22At the height of his success distress will come to him; the full weight of misery will crush him. | 22Even though he is satiated and self-sufficient, he suffers— everyone in any sort of trouble will attack him. |
| 23When he fills his stomach, God will send His burning anger against him, raining it down on him while he is eating. | 23"It will come about that, when he has filled himself to the full, God will vent his burning anger on him; he will pour it out on him and on his body. |
| 24If he flees from an iron weapon, an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him. | 24Though he dodges an iron weapon, a bronze arrow will pierce him. |
| 25He pulls it out of his back, the flashing tip out of his liver. Terrors come over him. | 25It will impale him and come out through his back; the point will glisten as it protrudes through his gall bladder, and he will be terrified. |
| 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. | 26"Total darkness has been reserved for his treasures; a fire that has no need to be kindled will devour him and consume whatever remains in his possession. |
| 27The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. | 27Heaven will reveal his iniquity, while the earth will rise up against him. |
| 28The possessions in his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God's anger. | 28A flood will wash away his house; dragging it away when God becomes angry. |
| 29This is the wicked man's lot from God, the inheritance God ordained for him. | 29This is what the wicked person inherits from God; it is the inheritance that God appoints for him." |
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