1 ¶ Then Zophar, the Naamathite, answered and said,

2 M y thoughts certainly cause me to answer, and therefore, I make haste.

3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my intelligence causes me to answer.

4 D ost thou not know this that always was, since man was placed upon earth,

5 t hat the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

6 T hough his excellency mounts up to the heavens, and his head reaches unto the clouds,

7 y et he shall perish for ever like his own dung; those who have seen him shall say, What is become of him?

8 H e shall fly away as a dream and shall not be found: yea, he shall flee away as a vision of the night.

9 T he eye which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place behold him any more.

10 ¶ His poor sons shall go forth begging, and their hands shall restore that which he stole.

11 H is bones are full of the sins of his youth, which shall be buried with him in the dust.

12 I f wickedness was sweet in his mouth, if he hid it under his tongue,

13 i f it seemed good unto him, and he did not forsake it, but savored it within his mouth,

14 h is food shall be changed in his bowels, it shall be the gall of asps within him.

15 H e has swallowed down riches, but he shall vomit them up again; God shall cast them out of his belly.

16 H e shall suck the poison of asps; the viper’s tongue shall slay him.

17 H e shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.

18 H e shall restore the work that was not his; according to the substance that he took; neither shall he devour, nor rejoice.

19 B ecause he oppressed and forsook the poor; because he has violently taken away houses which he did not build,

20 t herefore, he shall not feel quietness in his belly; he shall not escape with that which he desired.

21 N othing is left that he did not eat; therefore, his goods shall not last.

22 I n the fullness of his sufficiency, he shall come into anguish; the hands of all the wicked shall come upon him.

23 ¶ When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him and shall rain it upon him and upon his food.

24 H e shall flee from the weapons of iron, and the bow of bronze shall strike him through.

25 H e shall draw forth an arrow from his quiver, and like lightning it shall strike through his gall; terrors shall come upon him.

26 A ll darkness is kept for his secrets; a fire not blown shall consume him; his successor shall be broken in his tent.

27 T he heavens shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.

28 T he increase of his house shall be taken captive; they shall be scattered in the day of his wrath.

29 T his is the portion of a wicked man from God and the heritage that God appoints unto him by his word.