Zophar’s Sermon on the Wicked Man

² “ Therefore my anxious thoughts make me answer,
Because of the turmoil within me.

³ I have heard the rebuke that reproaches me,
And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer.

⁴ “Do you not know this of old,
Since man was placed on earth,

⁵ That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment?

⁶ Though his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens,
And his head reaches to the clouds,

⁷ Yet he will perish forever like his own refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

⁸ He will fly away like a dream, and not be found;
Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.

⁹ The eye that saw him will see him no more,
Nor will his place behold him anymore.

¹⁰ His children will seek the favor of the poor,
And his hands will restore his wealth.

¹¹ His bones are full of his youthful vigor,
But it will lie down with him in the dust.

¹² “ Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
And he hides it under his tongue,

¹³ Though he spares it and does not forsake it,
But still keeps it in his mouth,

¹⁴ Yet his food in his stomach turns sour;
It becomes cobra venom within him.

¹⁵ He swallows down riches
And vomits them up again;
God casts them out of his belly.

¹⁶ He will suck the poison of cobras;
The viper’s tongue will slay him.

¹⁷ He will not see the streams,
The rivers flowing with honey and cream.

¹⁸ He will restore that for which he labored,
And will not swallow it down;
From the proceeds of business
He will get no enjoyment.

¹⁹ For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor,
He has violently seized a house which he did not build.

²⁰ “ Because he knows no quietness in his heart,^[a]
He will not save anything he desires.

²¹ Nothing is left for him to eat;
Therefore his well-being will not last.

²² In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress;
Every hand of misery will come against him.

²³ When he is about to fill his stomach,
God will cast on him the fury of His wrath,
And will rain it on him while he is eating.

²⁴ He will flee from the iron weapon;
A bronze bow will pierce him through.

²⁵ It is drawn, and comes out of the body;
Yes, the glittering point comes out of his gall.
Terrors come upon him;

²⁶ Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
An unfanned fire will consume him;
It shall go ill with him who is left in his tent.

²⁷ The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
And the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸ The increase of his house will depart,
And his goods will flow away in the day of His wrath.

²⁹ This is the portion from God for a wicked man,
The heritage appointed to him by God.”