61 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
61 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 20
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1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
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2 This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer,
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because I am upset!
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3 I have heard a rebuke that insults me,
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and my understanding makes me reply.
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4 Don’t you know that ever since antiquity,
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from the time a human was placed on earth,
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5 the joy of the wicked has been brief
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and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?
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6 Though his arrogance reaches heaven,
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and his head touches the clouds,
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7 he will vanish forever like his own dung.
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Those who know him will ask, “Where is he?”
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8 He will fly away like a dream and never be found;
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he will be chased away like a vision in the night.
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9 The eye that saw him will see him no more,
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and his household will no longer see him.
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10 His children will beg from the poor,
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for his own hands must give back his wealth.
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11 His frame may be full of youthful vigor,
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but it will lie down with him in dust.
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12 Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth
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and he conceals it under his tongue,
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13 though he cherishes it and will not let it go
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but keeps it in his mouth,
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14 yet the food in his stomach turns
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into cobras’ venom inside him.
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15 He swallows wealth but must vomit it up;
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God will force it from his stomach.
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16 He will suck the poison of cobras;
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a viper’s fangs will kill him.
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17 He will not enjoy the streams,
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the rivers flowing with honey and curds.
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18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;
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he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.
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19 For he oppressed and abandoned the poor;
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he seized a house he did not build.
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20 Because his appetite is never satisfied,
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he does not let anything he desires escape.
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21 Nothing is left for him to consume;
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therefore, his prosperity will not last.
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22 At the height of his success distress will come to him;
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the full weight of misery will crush him.
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23 When he fills his stomach,
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God will send his burning anger against him,
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raining it down on him while he is eating.
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24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
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an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him.
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25 He pulls it out of his back,
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the flashing tip out of his liver.
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Terrors come over him.
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26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
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A fire unfanned by human hands will consume him;
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it will feed on what is left in his tent.
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27 The heavens will expose his iniquity,
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and the earth will rise up against him.
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28 The possessions in his house will be removed,
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flowing away on the day of God’s anger.
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29 This is the wicked person’s lot from God,
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the inheritance God ordained for him. |