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