Job 20:4-18

4“Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever since mankind was placed on the earth,

5that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.

6Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds,

7he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

8Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found, banished like a vision of the night.

9The eye that saw him will not see him again; his place will look on him no more.

10His children must make amends to the poor; his own hands must give back his wealth.

11The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie with him in the dust.

12“Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue,

13though he cannot bear to let it go and lets it linger in his mouth,

14yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him.

15He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up.

16He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him.

17He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

18What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.