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20:1  Then Zophar from Naamah answered:
20:2  “You upset me, so I must answer you. I must tell you what I am thinking.
20:3  You insulted me with your answers! But I am wise and know how to answer you.
20:4  “You know that the joy of the wicked does not last long. That has been true a long time, ever since Adam was put on earth. Those who don’t know God are happy for only a short time.
20:5  “You know that the joy of the wicked does not last long. That has been true a long time, ever since Adam was put on earth. Those who don’t know God are happy for only a short time.
20:6  Maybe an evil man’s pride will reach up to the sky, and his head will touch the clouds.
20:7  But he will be gone forever like his own body waste. People who knew him will say, ‘Where is he?’
20:8  Like a dream, he will fly away, never to be found. He will be chased away like a bad dream.
20:9  Those who knew him before will not see him again. His family will never again get to see him.
20:10  His children will have to give back what he took from the poor. His own hands will give up his wealth.
20:11  When he was young, his bones were strong, but, like the rest of his body, they will soon lie in the dirt.
20:12  “Evil tastes sweet in his mouth. He keeps it under his tongue to enjoy it fully.
20:13  He hates to let it go and holds it in his mouth.
20:14  But that evil will turn sour in his stomach. It will be like a snake’s bitter poison inside him.
20:15  The evil man will spit out the riches he has swallowed. God will make him vomit them up.
20:16  What he drank will be like a snake’s poison; it will kill him like the bite of a deadly snake.
20:17  He will never again enjoy so much wealth— rivers flowing with honey and cream.
20:18  He will be forced to give back his profits. He will not be allowed to enjoy what he worked for,
20:19  because he hurt the poor and left them with nothing. He took houses he did not build.
20:20  “The evil man is never satisfied. But the things he wants cannot save him.
20:21  After filling himself, there is nothing left. His success will not continue.
20:22  Even while he has plenty, he will be pressed down with trouble. His problems will come down on him!
20:23  If he does get all he wants, God will throw his burning anger against him. God will attack him and rain down punishment on him.
20:24  Maybe he will run away from an iron sword, but then a bronze arrow will strike him down.
20:25  It will go through his body and stick out of his back. Its shining point will pierce his liver, and he will be shocked with terror.
20:26  All his treasures will be lost in darkness. He will be destroyed by a fire, a fire that no human started. It will destroy everything left in his house.
20:27  Heaven will prove that he is guilty. The earth will be a witness against him.
20:28  His house and everything in it will be carried away in the flood of God’s anger.
20:29  That is what God will do to those who are evil. That is what he plans to give them.”