1: Then Zophar the Naamathite answered, 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 puts me to shame; The spirit of my understanding answers me. 4: Don't you know this from old time, Since man was placed on earth, 5: That the triumphing of the wicked is short, The joy of the godless but for a moment? 6: Though his height mount up to the heavens, And his head reach to the clouds, 7: Yet he shall perish forever like his own dung, Those who have seen him shall say, 'Where is he?' 8: He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: Yes, he shall be chased away like a vision of the night. 9: The eye which saw him shall see him no more, Neither shall his place any more see him. 10: His children shall seek the favor of the poor. His hands shall give back his wealth. 11: His bones are full of his youth, But youth shall lie down with him in the dust. 12: "Though wickedness is 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 cobra venom within him. 15: He has swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again. God will cast them out of his belly. 16: He shall suck cobra venom. The viper's tongue shall kill him. 17: He shall not look at the rivers, The flowing streams of honey and butter. 18: That for which he labored he shall restore, and shall not swallow it down; According to the substance that he has gotten, he shall not rejoice. 19: For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has violently taken away a house, and he shall not build it up. 20: "Because he knew no quietness within him, He shall not save anything of that in which he delights. 21: There was nothing left that he didn't devour, Therefore his prosperity shall not endure. 22: In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress shall overtake him: The hand of everyone who is in misery shall come on him. 23: When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating. 24: He shall flee from the iron weapon. The bronze arrow shall strike him through. 25: He draws it forth, and it comes out of his body. Yes, the glittering point comes out of his liver. Terrors are on him. 26: All darkness is laid up for his treasures. An unfanned fire shall devour him. It shall consume that which is left in his tent. 27: The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, The earth shall rise up against him. 28: The increase of his house shall depart; They shall rush away in the day of his wrath. 29: This is the portion of a wicked man from God, The heritage appointed to him by God."
