| King James Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, | 1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: |
| 2Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste. | 2“So my anxious thoughts compel me to answer, because of the turmoil within me. |
| 3I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer. | 3I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding prompts a reply. |
| 4Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth, | 4Do you not know that from antiquity, since man was placed on the earth, |
| 5That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? | 5the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary? |
| 6Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; | 6Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds, |
| 7Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he? | 7he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’ |
| 8He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. | 8He will fly away like a dream, never to be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night. |
| 9The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him. | 9The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his place will no longer behold him. |
| 10His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods. | 10His sons will seek the favor of the poor, for his own hands must return his wealth. |
| 11His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust. | 11The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie down with him in the dust. |
| 12Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; | 12Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue, |
| 13Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth: | 13though he cannot bear to let it go and keeps it in his mouth, |
| 14Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him. | 14yet in his stomach his food sours into the venom of cobras within him. |
| 15He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. | 15He swallows wealth but vomits it out; God will force it from his stomach. |
| 16He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him. | 16He will suck the poison of cobras; the fangs of a viper will kill him. |
| 17He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. | 17He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream. |
| 18That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein. | 18He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading. |
| 19Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not; | 19For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; he has seized houses he did not build. |
| 20Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired. | 20Because his appetite is never satisfied, he cannot escape with his treasure. |
| 21There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods. | 21Nothing is left for him to consume; thus his prosperity will not endure. |
| 22In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him. | 22In the midst of his plenty, he will be distressed; the full force of misery will come upon him. |
| 23When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating. | 23When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats. |
| 24He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through. | 24Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him. |
| 25It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him. | 25It is drawn out of his back, the gleaming point from his liver. Terrors come over him. |
| 26All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle. | 26Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent. |
| 27The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him. | 27The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. |
| 28The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath. | 28The possessions of his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God’s wrath. |
| 29This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God. | 29This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the inheritance God has appointed him.” |
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