Job 20

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¹Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said: ✦ ²“Therefore my anxious thoughts make me answer, Because of the turmoil within me. ✦ ³I have heard the rebuke that reproaches me, And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer. ✦ ⁴“Do you not know this of old, Since man was placed on earth, ✦ ⁵That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment? ✦ ⁶Though his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens, And his head reaches to the clouds, ✦ ⁷Yet he will perish forever like his own refuse; Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’ ✦ ⁸He will fly away like a dream, and not be found; Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night. ✦ ⁹The eye that saw him will see him no more, Nor will his place behold him anymore. ✦ ¹⁰His children will seek the favor of the poor, And his hands will restore his wealth. ✦ ¹¹His bones are full of his youthful vigor, But it will lie down with him in the dust. ✦ ¹²“Though evil is sweet in his mouth, And he hides it under his tongue, ✦ ¹³Though he spares it and does not forsake it, But still keeps it in his mouth, ✦ ¹⁴Yet his food in his stomach turns sour; It becomes cobra venom within him. ✦ ¹⁵He swallows down riches And vomits them up again; God casts them out of his belly. ✦ ¹⁶He will suck the poison of cobras; The viper’s tongue will slay him. ✦ ¹⁷He will not see the streams, The rivers flowing with honey and cream. ✦ ¹⁸He will restore that for which he labored, And will not swallow it down; From the proceeds of business He will get no enjoyment. ✦ ¹⁹For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor, He has violently seized a house which he did not build. ✦ ²⁰“Becausehe knows no quietness in his heart, He will not save anything he desires. ✦ ²¹Nothing is left for him to eat; Therefore his well-being will not last. ✦ ²²In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress; Every hand of misery will come against him. ✦ ²³When he is about to fill his stomach, God will cast on him the fury of His wrath, And will rain it on him while he is eating. ✦ ²⁴He will flee from the iron weapon; A bronze bow will pierce him through. ✦ ²⁵It is drawn, and comes out of the body; Yes, the glittering point comes out of his gall. Terrors come upon him; ✦ ²⁶Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. An unfanned fire will consume him; It shall go ill with him who is left in his tent. ✦ ²⁷The heavens will reveal his iniquity, And the earth will rise up against him. ✦ ²⁸The increase of his house will depart, And his goods will flow away in the day of His wrath. ✦ ²⁹This is the portion from God for a wicked man, The heritage appointed to him by God.” ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Job 18 ·10 Job 20 ·10 Job 27 ·9 Job 15 ·6 Job 8 ·5 Job 31 ·5 Deut 32 ·4 Ps 109 ·3

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Job 20YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Job 20David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Job 20Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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