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20:1  The speech of Zophar the Naamathite:
20:2  “I hasten to reply, for I have the answer for you.
20:3  You have tried to make me feel ashamed of myself for calling you a sinner, but my spirit won’t let me stop.
20:4  “Don’t you realize that ever since man was first placed upon the earth,
20:5  the triumph of the wicked has been short-lived, and the joy of the godless but for a moment?
20:6  Though the godless be proud as the heavens and walk with his nose in the air,
20:7  yet he shall perish forever, cast away like his own dung. Those who knew him will wonder where he has gone.
20:8  He will fade like a dream.
20:9  Neither his friends nor his family will ever see him again.
20:10  “His children shall beg from the poor, their hard labor shall repay his debts.
20:11  Though still a young man, his bones shall lie in the dust.
20:12  “He enjoyed the taste of his wickedness, letting it melt in his mouth,
20:13  sipping it slowly, lest it disappear.
20:14  “But suddenly the food he has eaten turns sour within him.
20:15  He will vomit the plunder he gorged. God won’t let him keep it down.
20:16  It is like poison and death to him.
20:17  He shall not enjoy the goods he stole; they will not be butter and honey to him after all.
20:18  His labors shall not be rewarded; wealth will give him no joy.
20:19  For he has oppressed the poor and foreclosed their homes; he will never recover.
20:20  Though he was always greedy, now he has nothing; of all the things he dreamed of—none remain.
20:21  Because he stole at every opportunity, his prosperity shall not continue.
20:22  “He shall run into trouble at the peak of his powers; all the wicked shall destroy him.
20:23  Just as he is about to fill his belly, God will rain down wrath upon him.
20:24  He will be chased and struck down.
20:25  The arrow is pulled from his body—and the glittering point comes out from his gall. The terrors of death are upon him.
20:26  “His treasures will be lost in deepest darkness. A raging fire will devour his goods, consuming all he has left.
20:27  The heavens will reveal his sins, and the earth will give testimony against him.
20:28  His wealth will disappear beneath the wrath of God.
20:29  This is what awaits the wicked man, for God prepares it for him.”