| Holman Christian Standard Bible | New International Version |
| 1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: | 1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: |
| 2This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer, because I am upset! | 2"My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed. |
| 3I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding makes me reply. | 3I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply. |
| 4Don't you know that ever since antiquity, from the time man was placed on earth, | 4"Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever 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? | 5that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment. |
| 6Though his arrogance reaches heaven, and his head touches the clouds, | 6Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds, |
| 7he will vanish forever like his own dung. Those who know him will ask, "Where is he?" | 7he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, '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. | 8Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found, banished like a vision of the night. |
| 9The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his household will no longer see him. | 9The eye that saw him will not see him again; his place will look on him no more. |
| 10His children will beg from the poor, for his own hands must give back his wealth. | 10His children must make amends to the poor; his own hands must give back his wealth. |
| 11His bones may be full of youthful vigor, but will lie down with him in the grave. | 11The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie with him in the dust. |
| 12Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue, | 12"Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue, |
| 13though he cherishes it and will not let it go but keeps it in his mouth, | 13though he cannot bear to let it go and lets it linger in his mouth, |
| 14yet the food in his stomach turns into cobras' venom inside him. | 14yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him. |
| 15He swallows wealth but must vomit it up; God will force it from his stomach. | 15He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up. |
| 16He will suck the poison of cobras; a viper's fangs will kill him. | 16He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him. |
| 17He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream. | 17He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream. |
| 18He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he doesn't enjoy the profits from his trading. | 18What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading. |
| 19For he oppressed and abandoned the poor; he seized a house he did not build. | 19For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses he did not build. |
| 20Because his appetite is never satisfied, he does not let anything he desires escape. | 20"Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his treasure. |
| 21Nothing is left for him to consume; therefore, his prosperity will not last. | 21Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure. |
| 22At the height of his success distress will come to him; the full weight of misery will crush him. | 22In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him. |
| 23When he fills his stomach, God will send His burning anger against him, raining it down on him while he is eating. | 23When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows on him. |
| 24If he flees from an iron weapon, an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him. | 24Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him. |
| 25He pulls it out of his back, the flashing tip out of his liver. Terrors come over him. | 25He pulls it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over him; |
| 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. | 26total darkness lies in wait for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent. |
| 27The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. | 27The heavens will expose his guilt; 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 carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God's wrath. |
| 29This is the wicked man's lot from God, the inheritance God ordained for him. | 29Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God." |
| Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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