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