| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: | 1Then Zophar the Naamathite answered: |
| 2“I must reply because I am greatly disturbed. | 2"This is why my troubled thoughts bring me back--because of my feelings within me. |
| 3I’ve had to endure your insults, but now my spirit prompts me to reply. | 3When I hear a reproof that dishonors me, then my understanding prompts me to answer. |
| 4“Don’t you realize that from the beginning of time, ever since people were first placed on the earth, | 4"Surely you know that it has been from old, ever since humankind was placed on the earth, |
| 5the triumph of the wicked has been short lived and the joy of the godless has been only temporary? | 5that the elation of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment. |
| 6Though the pride of the godless reaches to the heavens and their heads touch the clouds, | 6Even though his stature reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds, |
| 7yet they will vanish forever, thrown away like their own dung. Those who knew them will ask, ‘Where are they?’ | 7he will perish forever, like his own excrement; those who used to see him will say, 'Where is he?' |
| 8They will fade like a dream and not be found. They will vanish like a vision in the night. | 8Like a dream he flies away, never again to be found, and like a vision of the night he is put to flight. |
| 9Those who once saw them will see them no more. Their families will never see them again. | 9People who had seen him will not see him again, and the place where he was will recognize him no longer. |
| 10Their children will beg from the poor, for they must give back their stolen riches. | 10His sons must recompense the poor; his own hands must return his wealth. |
| 11Though they are young, their bones will lie in the dust. | 11His bones were full of his youthful vigor, but that vigor will lie down with him in the dust. |
| 12“They enjoyed the sweet taste of wickedness, letting it melt under their tongue. | 12"If evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue, |
| 13They savored it, holding it long in their mouths. | 13if he retains it for himself and does not let it go, and holds it fast in his mouth, |
| 14But suddenly the food in their bellies turns sour, a poisonous venom in their stomach. | 14his food is turned sour in his stomach; it becomes the venom of serpents within him. |
| 15They will vomit the wealth they swallowed. God won’t let them keep it down. | 15The wealth that he consumed he vomits up, God will make him throw it out of his stomach. |
| 16They will suck the poison of cobras. The viper will kill them. | 16He sucks the poison of serpents; the fangs of a viper kill him. |
| 17They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil or rivers of milk and honey. | 17He will not look on the streams, the rivers, which are the torrents of honey and butter. |
| 18They will give back everything they worked for. Their wealth will bring them no joy. | 18He gives back the ill-gotten gain without assimilating it; he will not enjoy the wealth from his commerce. |
| 19For they oppressed the poor and left them destitute. They foreclosed on their homes. | 19For he has oppressed the poor and abandoned them; he has seized a house which he did not build. |
| 20They were always greedy and never satisfied. Nothing remains of all the things they dreamed about. | 20For he knows no satisfaction in his appetite; he does not let anything he desires escape. |
| 21Nothing is left after they finish gorging themselves. Therefore, their prosperity will not endure. | 21"Nothing is left for him to devour; that is why his prosperity does not last. |
| 22“In the midst of plenty, they will run into trouble and be overcome by misery. | 22In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress overtakes him. the full force of misery will come upon him. |
| 23May God give them a bellyful of trouble. May God rain down his anger upon them. | 23"While he is filling his belly, God sends his burning anger against him, and rains down his blows upon him. |
| 24When they try to escape an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce them. | 24If he flees from an iron weapon, then an arrow from a bronze bow pierces him. |
| 25The arrow is pulled from their back, and the arrowhead glistens with blood. The terrors of death are upon them. | 25When he pulls it out and it comes out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver, terrors come over him. |
| 26Their treasures will be thrown into deepest darkness. A wildfire will devour their goods, consuming all they have left. | 26Total darkness waits to receive his treasures; a fire which has not been kindled will consume him and devour what is left in his tent. |
| 27The heavens will reveal their guilt, and the earth will testify against them. | 27The heavens reveal his iniquity; the earth rises up against him. |
| 28A flood will sweep away their house. God’s anger will descend on them in torrents. | 28A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God's wrath. |
| 29This is the reward that God gives the wicked. It is the inheritance decreed by God.” | 29Such is the lot God allots the wicked, and the heritage of his appointment from God." |
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