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20:1  Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,
20:2  “My troubled thoughts make me answer, because I have no rest inside.
20:3  I heard the strong words that take away my honor. The spirit of my understanding makes me answer.
20:4  Do you not know from long ago, since man was put on earth,
20:5  that the honor of the sinful is short, and the joy of the sinful lasts only a short time?
20:6  Even if his pride is as high as the heavens and his head touches the clouds,
20:7  he will be gone forever, like his own waste. Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
20:8  He will fly away like a dream, and not be found. He will be driven away like a dream of the night.
20:9  The eye which saw him will see him no more. His place will no longer see him.
20:10  His sons will look for the favor of the poor. And his hands will give back his riches.
20:11  His bones are full of the strength of the young, but it will lie down with him in the dust.
20:12  “Sin is sweet in his mouth. He hides it under his tongue.
20:13  He hates to let it go, and holds it in his mouth.
20:14  Yet his food in his stomach is changed to the poison of snakes inside him.
20:15  He eats riches, but will spit them up. God will take them out of his stomach.
20:16  He will drink the poison of snakes. The snake’s tongue will kill him.
20:17  He will not look at the rivers, the rivers flowing with honey and milk.
20:18  He must return what he has worked for, and can not eat it. He will not have joy from the riches of his trading.
20:19  For he has taken from the poor and left them with nothing. He has taken houses which he has not built.
20:20  “Because he thought he never had enough, he has nothing that gives him joy.
20:21  There was nothing more for him to get, so his having everything will not last.
20:22  Even when he has many riches, he will have trouble. Everyone who suffers will come against him.
20:23  When he fills his stomach, God will send His great anger on him. He will send it on him while he is eating.
20:24  He may get away from the iron sword, but the brass bow will shoot an arrow in him.
20:25  It cuts through his body and comes out of his back. The shining arrow comes out of his liver. Much fear comes upon him.
20:26  Complete darkness is stored up for his riches. A fire not kept going by man will burn him up. It will destroy all that is left in his tent.
20:27  The heavens will make his sin known, and the earth will rise up against him.
20:28  The things of his house will be carried away. They will be taken away in the day of God’s anger.
20:29  This is what God has for sinful men. It is what God chooses to give to them.”