20 ¹Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, ²Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste. ³I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer. ⁴Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth, ⁵That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? ⁶Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; ⁷Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, 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. ⁹The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him. ¹⁰His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods. ¹¹His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust. ¹²Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; ¹³Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth: ¹⁴Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him. ¹⁵He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. ¹⁶He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him. ¹⁷He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. 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. ¹⁹Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not; ²⁰Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired. ²¹There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods. ²²In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall 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. ²⁴He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through. ²⁵It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon 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. ²⁷The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him. ²⁸The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath. ²⁹This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.

21 ¹But Job answered and said, ²Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations. ³Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on. ⁴As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled? ⁵Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth. ⁶Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh. ⁷Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? ⁸Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. ⁹Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. ¹⁰Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. ¹¹They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. ¹²They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. ¹³They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. ¹⁴Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. ¹⁵What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him? ¹⁶Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me. ¹⁷How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger. ¹⁸They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away. ¹⁹God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it. ²⁰His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty. ²¹For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst? ²²Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high. ²³One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. ²⁴His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. ²⁵And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. ²⁶They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them. ²⁷Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me. ²⁸For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked? ²⁹Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens, ³⁰That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. ³¹Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? ³²Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb. ³³The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. ³⁴How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?