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20:1  Then Zophar from Naamath replied:
20:2  "Therefore my anxious thoughts cause me to answer because I'm agitated within me.
20:3  Whenever I hear an insulting rebuke, I respond from my spirit because I understand."
20:4  "Haven't you known this from ancient times, since mankind was placed on the earth?
20:5  The wicked triumph only briefly; the joy of the godless is momentary.
20:6  Though he grow as tall as the sky, or though his head touches the clouds,
20:7  he'll perish forever, like his own excrement; those who saw him will ask, 'Where is he?'
20:8  He'll vanish like a dream, and no one will find him; he will be chased away like a night vision."
20:9  "An eye that gazes at him won't do so again; and his place won't even recognize him.
20:10  His sons will make amends to the poor; their hands will return his wealth.
20:11  Though his bones were full of youthful vigor; yet they will lie down with him in the dust.
20:12  Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth, though he conceals it under his tongue,
20:13  though he savors it and delays swallowing it so he can taste it again and again in his mouth,
20:14  his food will turn rancid in his stomach— it will become a cobra's poison inside him.
20:15  "Though he swallows wealth, he will vomit it; God will dislodge it from his stomach.
20:16  He will suck the poison of cobras; the fangs of a viper will slay him.
20:17  He won't look at the rivers— the torrents of honey and curd.
20:18  "He will restore what he has attained from his work and won't consume it; he won't enjoy the profits from his business transactions,
20:19  because he has crushed and abandoned the poor; he has seized a house that he didn't build.
20:20  "Since his appetite won't quit; he won't let anything escape his lust.
20:21  Because nothing was left for him to devour, therefore his prosperity won't last.
20:22  Even though he is satiated and self-sufficient, he suffers— everyone in any sort of trouble will attack him.
20:23  "It will come about that, when he has filled himself to the full, God will vent his burning anger on him; he will pour it out on him and on his body.
20:24  Though he dodges an iron weapon, a bronze arrow will pierce him.
20:25  It will impale him and come out through his back; the point will glisten as it protrudes through his gall bladder, and he will be terrified.
20:26  "Total darkness has been reserved for his treasures; a fire that has no need to be kindled will devour him and consume whatever remains in his possession.
20:27  Heaven will reveal his iniquity, while the earth will rise up against him.
20:28  A flood will wash away his house; dragging it away when God becomes angry.
20:29  This is what the wicked person inherits from God; it is the inheritance that God appoints for him."