10 His sons do the poor oppress, And his hands give back his wealth. 11 His bones have been full of his youth, And with him on the dust it lieth down. 12 Though he doth sweeten evil in his mouth, Doth hide it under his tongue, 13 Hath pity on it, and doth not forsake it, And keep it back in the midst of his palate, 14 His food in his bowels is turned, The bitterness of asps 'is' in his heart. 15 Wealth he hath swallowed, and doth vomit it. From his belly God driveth it out. 16 Gall of asps he sucketh, Slay him doth the tongue of a viper. 17 He looketh not on rivulets, Flowing of brooks of honey and butter. 18 He is giving back 'what' he laboured for, And doth not consume 'it'; As a bulwark 'is' his exchange, and he exults not. 19 For he oppressed—he forsook the poor, A house he hath taken violently away, And he doth not build it. 20 For he hath not known ease in his belly. With his desirable thing he delivereth not himself. 21 There is not a remnant to his food, Therefore his good doth not stay. 22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he is straitened. Every perverse hand doth meet him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Job 20:10-22
Commentary on Job 20:10-22
(Read Job 20:10-22)
The miserable condition of the wicked man in this world is fully set forth. The lusts of the flesh are here called the sins of his youth. His hiding it and keeping it under his tongue, denotes concealment of his beloved lust, and delight therein. But He who knows what is in the heart, knows what is under the tongue, and will discover it. The love of the world, and of the wealth of it, also is wickedness, and man sets his heart upon these. Also violence and injustice, these sins bring God's judgments upon nations and families. Observe the punishment of the wicked man for these things. Sin is turned into gall, than which nothing is more bitter; it will prove to him poison; so will all unlawful gains be. In his fulness he shall be in straits, through the anxieties of his own mind. To be led by the sanctifying grace of God to restore what was unjustly gotten, as Zaccheus was, is a great mercy. But to be forced to restore by the horrors of a despairing conscience, as Judas was, has no benefit and comfort attending it.