JOB 20:1-22:30
20:1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
20:2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for [this] I make haste.
20:3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.
20:4 Knowest thou [not] this of old, since man was placed upon earth,
20:5 That the triumphing of the wicked [is] short, and the joy of the hypocrite [but] for a moment?
20:6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;
20:7 [Yet] he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where [is] he?
20:8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
20:9 The eye also [which] saw him shall [see him] no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.
20:10 His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.
20:11 His bones are full [of the sin] of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.
20:12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, [though] he hide it under his tongue;
20:13 [Though] he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:
20:14 [Yet] his meat in his bowels is turned, [it is] the gall of asps within him.
20:15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.
20:16 He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him.
20:17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
20:18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow [it] down: according to [his] substance [shall] the restitution [be], and he shall not rejoice [therein].
20:19 Because he hath oppressed [and] hath forsaken the poor; [because] he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;
20:20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.
20:21 There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.
20:22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.
20:23 [When] he is about to fill his belly, [God] shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain [it] upon him while he is eating.
20:24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, [and] the bow of steel shall strike him through.
20:25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors [are] upon him.
20:26 All darkness [shall be] hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.
20:27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.
20:28 The increase of his house shall depart, [and his goods] shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
20:29 This [is] the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.
21:1 But Job answered and said,
21:2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
21:3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.
21:4 As for me, [is] my complaint to man? and if [it were so], why should not my spirit be troubled?
21:5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay [your] hand upon [your] mouth.
21:6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
21:7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
21:8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.
21:9 Their houses [are] safe from fear, neither [is] the rod of God upon them.
21:10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
21:12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
21:13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
21:14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
21:15 What [is] the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
21:16 Lo, their good [is] not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
21:17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and [how oft] cometh their destruction upon them! [God] distributeth sorrows in his anger.
21:18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
21:19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know [it].
21:20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21:21 For what pleasure [hath] he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
21:22 Shall [any] teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.
21:23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
21:24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
21:25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
21:26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
21:27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices [which] ye wrongfully imagine against me.
21:28 For ye say, Where [is] the house of the prince? and where [are] the dwelling places of the wicked?
21:29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,
21:30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
21:31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him [what] he hath done?
21:32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
21:33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as [there are] innumerable before him.
21:34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?
22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
22:2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?
22:3 [Is it] any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or [is it] gain [to him], that thou makest thy ways perfect?
22:4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?
22:5 [Is] not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?
22:6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
22:7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
22:8 But [as for] the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.
22:9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
22:10 Therefore snares [are] round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;
22:11 Or darkness, [that] thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.
22:12 [Is] not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!
22:13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
22:14 Thick clouds [are] a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
22:15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
22:16 Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:
22:17 Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?
22:18 Yet he filled their houses with good [things]: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
22:19 The righteous see [it], and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.
22:20 Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.
22:21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.
22:22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
22:23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
22:24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the [gold] of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
22:25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
22:26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.
22:27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
22:28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
22:29 When [men] are cast down, then thou shalt say, [There is] lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.
22:30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.