Job 20

Job · Chapter 20

Job 20:6

1Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,2Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.3I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.4Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,5That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?6Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;7Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?8He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.9The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.10His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.11His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.12Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;13Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:14Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.15He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.16He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him.17He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.18That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.19Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;20Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.21There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.22In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.23When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.24He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.25It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.26All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.27The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.28The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.29This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
6Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds,Though his height mount up to the heavens, And his head reach unto the clouds;

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
thoughאִם־'im-H0518A
if

אִם (im) : if/whether_or/though 1) if 1a) conditional clauses 1a1) of possible situations 1a2) of impossible situations 1b) oath contexts 1b1) no, not 1c) if...if, whether...or, whether...or...or 1d) when, whenever 1e) since 1f) interrogative particle 1g) but rather

it will go upיַעֲלֶ֣הya-'a-LEHH5927G
to ascend: rise

עָלָה (a.lah) : rise/go 1) to go up, ascend, climb 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to go up, ascend 1a2) to meet, visit, follow, depart, withdraw, retreat 1a3) to go up, come up (of animals) 1a4) to spring up, grow, shoot forth (of vegetation) 1a5) to go up, go up over, rise (of natural phenomenon) 1a6) to come up (before God) 1a7) to go up, go up over, extend (of boundary) 1a8) to excel, be superior to 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be taken up, be brought up, be taken away 1b2) to take oneself away 1b3) to be exalted 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to bring up, cause to ascend or climb, cause to go up 1c2) to bring up, bring against, take away …

to the heavensלַשָּׁמַ֣יִםla-sha-MA-yimH8064
heaven

שָׁמַיִם (sha.ma.yim) 1) heaven, heavens, sky 1a) visible heavens, sky 1a1) as abode of the stars 1a2) as the visible universe, the sky, atmosphere, etc 1b) Heaven (as the abode of God) Aramaic equivalent: sha.ma.yin (שָׁמַ֫יִן "heaven" H8065)

loftiness hisשִׂיא֑וֹsi-'OH7863
loftiness

שִׂיא (si) loftiness (of pride)

and head hisוְ֝רֹאשׁ֗וֹve-ro-SHOH7218A
head

רֵאשׁ (resh) 1) chief, head 1a) head (of man) 1b) head (as seat of visions) 1c) chief 1d) sum (essential content)

to the cloud[s]לָעָ֥בla-'AVH5645
cloud

עָב (av) 1) darkness, cloud, thicket 1a) dark cloud 1b) cloud mass 1c) thicket (as refuge)

it will reachיַגִּֽיעַ׃ya-GI-a'H5060
to touch

נָגַע (na.ga) 1) to touch, reach, strike 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to touch 1a2) to strike 1a3) to reach, extend to 1a4) to be stricken 1a4a) stricken (participle) 1b) (Niphal) to be stricken, be defeated 1c) (Piel) to strike 1d) (Pual) to be stricken (by disease) 1e) (Hiphil) to cause to touch, reach, approach, arrive 1e1) to cause to touch, apply 1e2) to reach, extend, attain, arrive, come 1e3) to approach (of time) 1e4) to befall (of fate)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.