20 Then Zofar from Naamah responded to Iyyov:

2 My anxious thoughts force me to answer,

because of the turmoil that’s within me.

3 I’ve heard your correction and it insults me,

and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me.

4 Do you know this from long ago,

≈from back when humankind was placed on the earth:

5 that the excited shout of wicked people is brief,

≈and the happiness of godless people only lasts a moment?

6 Although their arrogance rises up to the sky,

and their heads reach into the clouds,

7 they will vanish forever like their own dung—

≈those who had seen them will ask, ‘Where are they now?’

8 They’ll fly away like a dream that can’t be found again,

≈and be chased away like a vision in the night.

9 Whoever saw them won’t see them again,

≈and even the place where they lived won’t see them again.

10 Their children will be seeking the favour of poor people,

≈because their own hands must return their wealth.

11 Although their bones were full of youthful vigour,

that same strength will lie down with them in the dust.

12 Although their evil tastes sweet in their mouths,

they hide it under their tongues.

13 They would miss it too much to let it go,

and they keep it there in the middle of their mouths.

14 But that food changes in their stomachs.

≈It becomes like snake venom inside them.

15 They swallow up wealth but then vomit it up.

≈God forces it out of their stomachs.

16 They’ll suck on cobra poison.

≈The viper’s fangs will kill them.

17 Those wicked people won’t enjoy the streams,

or the fast-flowing rivers of honey and yoghurt.

18 They will return what they’ve gained and not swallow it down.

≈They won’t get any enjoyment from the profits of their trading.

19 They’ve oppressed others and ignored the poor.

≈They’ve seized homes that they didn’t build.

20 Their bellies are never at ease.

They never deliver what they desire.

21 There’s nothing left over from their eating,

so their prosperity won’t endure.

22 They’ll be so full but it’ll only bring distress.

Every troublemaker will come to them.

23 Maybe when they’ve filled their bellies,

God will send his anger against them,

raining down on them and their meal.

24 They flee from weapons made of iron.

≈A bow made of brass sends its arrows right through them.

25 They pull them through and out their backs.

The tips have shiny liver on them—terrors come over them.

26 Total darkness is reserved for their treasures.

A fire which no one started will devour them.

Only sorry remnants will survive in their tents.

27 The heavens will reveal their evils,

and the earth will rise up against them.

28 The contents of their houses will be removed—

washed away in his severe anger.

29 That’s what God serves up to wicked people,

≈and the heritage that God has decreed for them.