62 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
62 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 20
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1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
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2 “I must reply
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because I am greatly disturbed.
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3 I’ve had to endure your insults,
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but now my spirit prompts me to reply.
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4 “Don’t you realize that from the beginning of time,
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ever since people were first placed on the earth,
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5 the triumph of the wicked has been short lived
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and the joy of the godless has been only temporary?
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6 Though the pride of the godless reaches to the heavens
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and their heads touch the clouds,
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7 yet they will vanish forever,
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thrown away like their own dung.
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Those who knew them will ask,
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‘Where are they?’
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8 They will fade like a dream and not be found.
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They will vanish like a vision in the night.
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9 Those who once saw them will see them no more.
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Their families will never see them again.
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10 Their children will beg from the poor,
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for they must give back their stolen riches.
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11 Though they are young,
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their bones will lie in the dust.
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12 “They enjoyed the sweet taste of wickedness,
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letting it melt under their tongue.
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13 They savored it,
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holding it long in their mouths.
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14 But suddenly the food in their bellies turns sour,
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a poisonous venom in their stomach.
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15 They will vomit the wealth they swallowed.
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God won’t let them keep it down.
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16 They will suck the poison of cobras.
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The viper will kill them.
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17 They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil
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or rivers of milk and honey.
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18 They will give back everything they worked for.
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Their wealth will bring them no joy.
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19 For they oppressed the poor and left them destitute.
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They foreclosed on their homes.
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20 They were always greedy and never satisfied.
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Nothing remains of all the things they dreamed about.
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21 Nothing is left after they finish gorging themselves.
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Therefore, their prosperity will not endure.
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22 “In the midst of plenty, they will run into trouble
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and be overcome by misery.
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23 May God give them a bellyful of trouble.
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May God rain down his anger upon them.
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24 When they try to escape an iron weapon,
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a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce them.
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25 The arrow is pulled from their back,
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and the arrowhead glistens with blood.
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The terrors of death are upon them.
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26 Their treasures will be thrown into deepest darkness.
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A wildfire will devour their goods,
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consuming all they have left.
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27 The heavens will reveal their guilt,
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and the earth will testify against them.
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28 A flood will sweep away their house.
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God’s anger will descend on them in torrents.
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29 This is the reward that God gives the wicked.
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It is the inheritance decreed by God.” |