“Swift are they on the face of the waters.
Their portion in the land is cursed.
No one who treads turns toward their vineyards.
Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters.
Sheol snatches away those who have sinned.
The womb forgets them.
The worm finds them sweet.
They are no longer remembered.
Wickedness is broken like a tree.’
They harm the childless woman.
They do no good to the widow.”
These are difficult passages since they are later in the Jerusalem Bible, after chapter 27, in order to connect to the curse of Zophar. It is difficult to say whether this is Job or one of his comforters speaking. This may have been an inserted poem. These wicked are quick, but their land is cursed. No one walks, tramples, or treads in their vineyards. The snow waters do not reach their land. Sheol eventually takes them. Their mothers forget them. They are not remembered. The worms like their sweetness like a broken tree. They have harmed the childless woman and the widows.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 