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Zophar's Second Speech

Your Words Are Disturbing

20 Zophar from Naamah[a] said:
Your words are disturbing;
    now I must speak.
You have accused
    and insulted me,
    and reason requires a reply.
Since the time of creation,
    everyone has known
that sinful people are happy
    for only a while.
Though their pride and power
    may reach to the sky,
they will disappear like dust,
and those who knew them
    will wonder what happened.
(A) They will be forgotten
    like a dream
and vanish from the sight
    of family and friends.
10 Their children will have to repay
what the parents took
    from the poor.
11 Indeed, the wicked will die
and go to their graves
    in the prime of life.

Sinners Love the Taste of Sin

12 Sinners love the taste of sin;
they relish every bite
13     and swallow it slowly.
14 But their food will turn sour
    and poison their stomachs.
15 Then God will make them lose
    the wealth they gobbled up.
16 They will die from the fangs
    of poisonous snakes
17 and never enjoy rivers flowing
    with milk and honey.
18 Their hard work will result
    in nothing gained,
19 because they cheated the poor
    and took their homes.

20 Greedy people want everything
    and are never satisfied.[b]
21 But when nothing remains
for them to grab,
    they will be nothing.
22 Once they have everything,
distress and despair
    will strike them down,
23 and God will make them swallow
    his blazing anger.[c]

24 (B) While running from iron spears,
they will be killed
    by arrows of bronze,
25 whose shining tips go straight
    through their bodies.
They will be trapped by terror,
26 and what they treasure most
    will be lost in the dark.
God will send flames
to destroy them in their tents
    with all their property.
27 The heavens and the earth
    will testify against them,
28 and all their possessions
will be dragged off
    when God becomes angry.
29 This is what God has decided
    for those who are evil.

Footnotes

  1. 20.1 Naamah: See the note at 2.11.
  2. 20.20 are never satisfied: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  3. 20.23 anger: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 23.

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