📖 Job — Chapter 20 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Job 20:1 Then answered RZophar the Naamathite, and said,
Job 20:2 Therefore do Rmy thoughts cause me to answer, and for this TI make haste.
Job 20:3 I have heard Rthe check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.
Job 20:4 Knowest Rthou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,
Job 20:5 That Rthe triumphing of the wicked is Tshort, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
Job 20:6 Though Rhis excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the Tclouds;
Job 20:7 Yet he shall Rperish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
Job 20:8 He shall Rfly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
Job 20:9 RThe eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.
Job 20:10 RTHis children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.
Job 20:11 His Rbones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.
Job 20:12 Though Rwickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;
Job 20:13 Though he Rspare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still Twithin his mouth:
Job 20:14 Yet Rhis meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.
Job 20:15 He hath Rswallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.
Job 20:16 He shall suck Rthe poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him.
Job 20:17 He Rshall not see the rivers, Tthe floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
Job 20:18 That which he laboured for Rshall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to This substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.
Job 20:19 Because he hath RToppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;
Job 20:20 RSurely he shall not Tfeel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.
Job 20:21 There shall RTnone of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.
Job 20:22 In Rthe fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the Twicked shall come upon him.
Job 20:23 When Rhe 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.
Job 20:24 He shall Rflee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.
Job 20:25 It is Rdrawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.
Job 20:26 All Rdarkness 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.
Job 20:27 The Rheaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.
Job 20:28 The Rincrease of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
Job 20:29 This is Rthe portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage Tappointed unto him by God.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 20:1–11 — Zophar's swift reply
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Zophar feels rebuked and quickly replies with the assertion that the wicked person's joy is brief. He describes disappearance and ruin. This is his answer to Job's hope and defense, but it still does not establish that Job is wicked. The speed and certainty of a reply can prevent careful hearing.
Key Truth: Do not let feeling challenged replace careful listening.
Check What You Remember
1. Which friend speaks here? (Job 20:1)
Find it in Job 20:1 (KJV).
2. What does he say is short? (Job 20:5)
Find it in Job 20:5 (KJV).
3. What vanishing experience pictures disappearance? (Job 20:8)
Find it in Job 20:8 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 20:12–19 — Wrongdoing pictured as poisoned food
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Zophar compares cherished wickedness and swallowed riches with food turning poisonous. He names oppression of the poor and seizure of another's house. These actions are truly wrong, but the speaker has not demonstrated that Job committed them. A sound moral principle can still be misused in a false accusation.
Key Truth: Condemn injustice without inventing who committed it.
Check What You Remember
1. What venomous creatures appear in the food image? (Job 20:14)
Find it in Job 20:14 (KJV).
2. What riches does he say must be brought up again? (Job 20:15)
Find it in Job 20:15 (KJV).
3. Whom does he accuse the described man of oppressing? (Job 20:19)
Find it in Job 20:19 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 20:20–29 — Ruin declared as the wicked person's portion
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Zophar finishes with images of hunger, weapons, fire, and revealed guilt. He calls this the wicked man's appointed heritage. The speech's force does not turn it into an accurate diagnosis of Job. The book asks readers to test the friends' account against the opening and the final divine assessment.
Key Truth: Weigh forceful claims against the full account.
Check What You Remember
1. What weapon does he say will strike after flight? (Job 20:24)
Find it in Job 20:24 (KJV).
2. What does he say heaven will reveal? (Job 20:27)
Find it in Job 20:27 (KJV).
3. Whose portion does he say this is? (Job 20:29)
Find it in Job 20:29 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
Proverbs 18:17 — The proverb warns that a first account must be examined.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
How can you discuss real wrongdoing without attaching it to someone on insufficient evidence?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. What prompts Zophar’s hurried reply?
2. How do height and a dream contrast in his portrayal?
3. How does sweet wickedness become a harmful food image?
4. What injustice is connected with the described loss of riches?
5. How does the closing picture extend exposure beyond an earthly weapon?
Notes
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