20:2Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me,
Even by reason of my haste that is in me.
20:3I have heard the reproof which putteth me to shame;
And the spirit of my understanding answereth me.
20:4Knowest thou not this of old time,
Since man was placed upon earth,
20:5That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the godless but for a moment?
20:6Though his height mount up to the heavens,
And his head reach unto the clouds;
20:7Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung:
They that have seen him shall say, Where is he?
20:8He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found:
Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
20:9The eye which saw him shall see him no more;
Neither shall his place any more behold him.
20:10His children shall seek the favor of the poor,
And his hands shall give back his wealth.
20:11His bones are full of his youth,
But it shall lie down with him in the dust. \\ \\
20:12Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,
Though he hide it under his tongue,
20:13Though he spare it, and will not let it go,
But keep it still within his mouth;
20:14Yet his food in his bowels is turned,
It is the gall of asps within him.
20:15He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again;
God will cast them out of his belly.
20:16He shall suck the poison of asps:
The viper's tongue shall slay him.
20:17He shall not look upon the rivers,
The flowing streams of honey and butter.
20:18That which he labored for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down;
According to the substance that he hath gotten, he shall not rejoice.
20:19For he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor;
He hath violently taken away a house, and he shall not build it up. \\ \\
20:20Because he knew no quietness within him,
He shall not save aught of that wherein he delighteth.
20:21There was nothing left that he devoured not;
Therefore his prosperity shall not endure.
20:22In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits:
The hand of every one that is in misery shall come upon him.
20:23When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath upon him,
And will rain it upon him while he is eating.
20:24He shall flee from the iron weapon,
And the bow of brass shall strike him through.
20:25He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his body;
Yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall:
Terrors are upon him.
20:26All darkness is laid up for his treasures:
A fire not blown by man shall devour him;
It shall consume that which is left in his tent.
20:27The heavens shall reveal his iniquity,
And the earth shall rise up against him.
20:28The increase of his house shall depart;
His goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
20:29This is the portion of a wicked man from God,
And the heritage appointed unto him by God.
Notes: