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Job 20 (CEV)

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¹ Zophar from Naamah said: ² Your words are disturbing; now I must speak. ³ You have accused and insulted me, and reason requires a reply. ⁴ Since the time of creation, everyone has known ⁵ that sinful people are happy for only a while. ⁶ Though their pride and power may reach to the sky, ⁷ they will disappear like dust, and those who knew them will wonder what happened. ⁸ They will be forgotten like a dream ⁹ and vanish from the sight of family and friends. ¹⁰ Their children will have to repay what the parents took from the poor. ¹¹ Indeed, the wicked will die and go to their graves in the prime of life. ¹² Sinners love the taste of sin; they relish every bite ¹³ and swallow it slowly. ¹⁴ But their food will turn sour and poison their stomachs. ¹⁵ Then God will make them lose the wealth they gobbled down. ¹⁶ They will die from the fangs of poisonous snakes ¹⁷ and never enjoy rivers flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁸ Their hard work will result in nothing gained, ¹⁹ because they cheated the poor and took their homes. ²⁰ Greedy people want everything and are never satisfied. ²¹ But when nothing remains for them to grab, they will be nothing. ²² Once they have everything, distress and despair will strike them down, ²³ and God will make them swallow his blazing anger. ²⁴ While running from iron spears, they will be killed by arrows of bronze, ²⁵ whose shining tips go straight through their bodies. They will be trapped by terror, ²⁶ and what they treasure most will be lost in the dark. God will send flames to destroy them in their tents with all their property. ²⁷ The heavens and the earth will testify against them, ²⁸ and all their possessions will be dragged off when God becomes angry. ²⁹ This is what God has decided for those who are evil.