Yet his food in his stomach is changed To the venom of cobras within him.
Parallel translations
- WEB yet his food in his bowels is turned. It is cobra venom within him.
- KJV Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.
- BSB yet in his stomach his food sours into the venom of cobras within him.
- NKJV Yet his food in his stomach turns sour; It becomes cobra venom within him.
- NLT But suddenly the food in their bellies turns sour, a poisonous venom in their stomach.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Yet that sweet morsel turns sour in his stomach, becoming cobra venom within him. Cherished sin becomes deadly poison.
Overview
Zophar reveals the reversal: the savored sin, once swallowed, turns to deadly venom inside the wicked man. The vivid image shows how sin's brief sweetness yields lethal consequences. It echoes the biblical truth that sin promises pleasure but pays out death, a wage from which only Christ can deliver (Romans 6:23).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Rom 3:13“Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit.” “The poison of vipers is under their lips”;
- Ps 38:1–8A Psalm by David, for a memorial. Yahweh, don’t rebuke me in your wrath, neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.
- Prov 1:31Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.
- Deut 32:24They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.
- Prov 23:20–21Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat:
- Prov 23:29–35Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
- Jer 2:19“Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backsliding will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing, that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, and that my fear is not in you,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
- Ps 32:3–4When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
- Ps 51:8–9Let me hear joy and gladness, That the bones which you have broken may rejoice.
- 2 Sam 12:10–11Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’
- 2 Sam 11:2–5At evening, David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to look at.
- Job 20:16He shall suck cobra venom. The viper’s tongue shall kill him.
- Mal 2:2If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of Armies, “then will I send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 20:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.