| 1 | Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, |
| 2 | Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me, Even by reason of my haste that is in me. |
| 3 | I have heard the reproof which putteth me to shame; And the spirit of my understanding answereth me. |
| 4 | Knowest thou [not] this of old time, Since man was placed upon earth, |
| 5 | That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless but for a moment? |
| 6 | Though his height mount up to the heavens, And his head reach unto the clouds; |
| 7 | Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: They that have seen him shall say, Where is he? |
| 8 | He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. |
| 9 | The eye which saw him shall see him no more; Neither shall his place any more behold him. |
| 10 | His children shall seek the favor of the poor, And his hands shall give back his wealth. |
| 11 | His bones are full of his youth, But it shall lie down with him in the dust. |
| 12 | Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, Though he hide it under his tongue, |
| 13 | Though he spare it, and will not let it go, But keep it still within his mouth; |
| 14 | Yet his food in his bowels is turned, It is the gall of asps within him. |
| 15 | He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again; God will cast them out of his belly. |
| 16 | He shall suck the poison of asps: The viper's tongue shall slay him. |
| 17 | He shall not look upon the rivers, The flowing streams of honey and butter. |
| 18 | That which he labored for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down; According to the substance that he hath gotten, he shall not rejoice. |
| 19 | For he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor; He hath violently taken away a house, and he shall not build it up. |
| 20 | Because he knew no quietness within him, He shall not save aught of that wherein he delighteth. |
| 21 | There was nothing left that he devoured not; Therefore his prosperity shall not endure. |
| 22 | In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: The hand of every one that is in misery shall come upon him. |
| 23 | When he is about to fill his belly, [God] will cast the fierceness of his wrath upon him, And will rain it upon him while he is eating. |
| 24 | He shall flee from the iron weapon, And the bow of brass shall strike him through. |
| 25 | He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his body; Yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall: Terrors are upon him. |
| 26 | All darkness is laid up for his treasures: A fire not blown [by man] shall devour him; It shall consume that which is left in his tent. |
| 27 | The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, And the earth shall rise up against him. |
| 28 | The increase of his house shall depart; [His goods] shall flow away in the day of his wrath. |
| 29 | This is the portion of a wicked man from God, And the heritage appointed unto him by God. |