1Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said:
2For this do my thoughts lead me to reply, And for this is my ardor within me.
3I have heard my shameful rebuke; And the spirit, from my understanding, answereth for me.
4Knowest thou not, that from the days of old, From the time when man was placed upon the earth,
5The triumphing of the wicked hath been short, And the joy of the impious but for a moment?
6Though his greatness mount up to the heavens, And his head reach to the clouds,
7Yet shall he perish for ever, and be mingled with dust; They who saw him shall say, Where is he?
8He shall flee away like a dream, and shall not be found; Yea, he shall disappear like a vision of the nigh.
9The eye also which saw him shall see him no more, And his dwelling-place shall never more behold him.
10His sons shall seek the favor of the poor, And their hands shall give back his wealth.
11His bones are full of his youth, But they shall lie down with him in the dust.
12Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, Though he hide it under his tongue,
13Though he cherish it, and will not part with it, And keep it fast in his mouth,
14Yet his meat shall be changed within him, And become to him the poison of asps.
15He hath glutted himself with riches, And he shall throw them up again; Yea, God shall cast them out of his body.
16He shall suck the poison of asps; The tongue of the viper shall destroy him.
17He shall never see the flowing streams, And the rivers of honey and milk.
18The fruits of his toil he shall give back, and shall not enjoy them: It is substance to be restored, and he shall not rejoice therein.
19Because he hath oppressed and abandoned the poor, And seized upon the house which he did not build;
20Because he knew no rest in his bosom, He shall not save that in which he delighteth.
21Because nothing escaped his greediness, His prosperity shall not endure.
22In the fulness of his abundance he shall be brought low; Every hand of the wretched shall come upon him.
23He shall, indeed, have wherewith to fill himself: God shall send upon him the fury of his anger, And rain it down upon him for his food.
24If he fleeth from the iron weapon, The bow of brass shall pierce him through.
25He draweth the arrow, and it cometh forth from his body; Yea, the glittering steel cometh out of his gall. Terrors are upon him;
26Calamity of every kind is treasured up for him. A fire not blown shall consume him; It shall consume whatever is left in his tent.
27The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, And the earth shall rise up against him.
28The substance of his house shall disappear; It shall flow away in the day of His wrath.
29Such is the portion of the wicked man from God, And the inheritance appointed for him by the Almighty.