Job 20–21: Zophar's Last Sermon, and Job Points at the World
Scripture: Berean Standard Bible
Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
“So my anxious thoughts compel me to answer,because of the turmoil within me.I have heard a rebuke that insults me,and my understanding prompts a reply.
Do you not know that from antiquity,since man was placed on the earth,the triumph of the wicked has been briefand the joy of the godless momentary?Though his arrogance reaches the heavens,and his head touches the clouds,he will perish forever, like his own dung;those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’He will fly away like a dream, never to be found;he will be chased away like a vision in the night.The eye that saw him will see him no more,and his place will no longer behold him.His sons will seek the favor of the poor,for his own hands must return his wealth.The youthful vigor that fills his boneswill lie down with him in the dust.
Though evil is sweet in his mouthand he conceals it under his tongue,though he cannot bear to let it goand keeps it in his mouth,yet in his stomach his food soursinto the venom of cobras within him.He swallows wealth but vomits it out;God will force it from his stomach.He will suck the poison of cobras;the fangs of a viper will kill him.He will not enjoy the streams,the rivers flowing with honey and cream.He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor;he has seized houses he did not build.
Because his appetite is never satisfied,he cannot escape with his treasure.Nothing is left for him to consume;thus his prosperity will not endure.In the midst of his plenty, he will be distressed;the full force of misery will come upon him.When he has filled his stomach,God will vent his fury upon him,raining it down on him as he eats.Though he flees from an iron weapon,a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him.It is drawn out of his back,the gleaming point from his liver.Terrors come over him.Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.A fire unfanned will consume himand devour what is left in his tent.The heavens will expose his iniquity,and the earth will rise up against him.The possessions of his house will be removed,flowing away on the day of God’s wrath.
This is the wicked man’s portion from God,the inheritance God has appointed him.”
Then Job answered:
“Listen carefully to my words;let this be your consolation to me.Bear with me while I speak;then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
Is my complaint against a man?Then why should I not be impatient?Look at me and be appalled;put your hand over your mouth.When I remember, terror takes hold,and my body trembles in horror.Why do the wicked live on,growing old and increasing in power?Their descendants are established around them,and their offspring before their eyes.Their homes are safe from fear;no rod of punishment from God is upon them.Their bulls breed without fail;their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.They send forth their little ones like a flock;their children skip about,singing to the tambourine and lyreand making merry at the sound of the flute.They spend their days in prosperityand go down to Sheol in peace.Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone!For we have no desire to know your ways.Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him,and what would we gain if we pray to him?’Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands,so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?Does disaster come upon them?Does God, in his anger, apportion destruction?Are they like straw before the wind,like chaff swept away by a storm?It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children.Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.Let his eyes see his own destruction;let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.For what does he care about his household after him,when the number of his months has run out?
Can anyone teach knowledge to God,since he judges those on high?One man dies full of vigor,completely secure and at ease.His body is well nourished,and his bones are rich with marrow.Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul,having never tasted prosperity.But together they lie down in the dust,and worms cover them both.
Behold, I know your thoughts full well,the schemes by which you would wrong me.For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house,and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’Have you never asked those who travel the roads?Do you not accept their reports?Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity,delivered from the day of wrath.Who denounces his behavior to his face?Who repays him for what he has done?He is carried to the grave,and watch is kept over his tomb.The clods of the valley are sweet to him;everyone follows behind him,and those before him are without number.
So how can you comfort me with empty words?For your answers remain full of falsehood.”