1. Then Zophar from Naamah answered:
2. “You upset me, so I must answer you. I must tell you what I am thinking.
3. You insulted me with your answers! But I am wise and know how to answer you.
4-5. “You know that the joy of the wicked does not last long. That has been true a long time, ever since Adam was put on earth. Those who don’t know God are happy for only a short time.
6. Maybe an evil man’s pride will reach up to the sky, and his head will touch the clouds.
7. But he will be gone forever like his own body waste. People who knew him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8. Like a dream, he will fly away, never to be found. He will be chased away like a bad dream.
9. Those who knew him before will not see him again. His family will never again get to see him.
10. His children will have to give back what he took from the poor. His own hands will give up his wealth.
11. When he was young, his bones were strong, but, like the rest of his body, they will soon lie in the dirt.
12. “Evil tastes sweet in his mouth. He keeps it under his tongue to enjoy it fully.
13. He hates to let it go and holds it in his mouth.
14. But that evil will turn sour in his stomach. It will be like a snake’s bitter poison inside him.