Compare Job 20:14 with Proverbs 14:12 on the end result of sin.

Opening the Two Texts

• Job 20:14: “yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him.”

• Proverbs 14:12: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

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Sin’s Deceptive Sweetness: Job 20:14

• Zophar pictures the wicked man “eating” sin like a delicacy.

• The pleasure is momentary; inside, it transforms into “venom of serpents.”

• The image underscores how sin appears nourishing but inevitably poisons and destroys from within (cf. Psalm 52:7; James 1:14-15).

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The Fatal Illusion: Proverbs 14:12

• People confidently follow a path they judge “right.”

• Human assessment minus God’s truth is defective; the route terminates in “death.”

• The verse exposes the blindness of self-reliance and moral autonomy (cf. Jeremiah 17:9; Isaiah 5:20).

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Shared Theme: Sin’s End Is Ruin

• Job 20:14 stresses inner corruption, Proverbs 14:12 spotlights final outcome—but both meet in the same destination: destruction.

• Together they trace sin’s progression:

– Attraction → Consumption (Job)

– Self-justification → Continuance (Proverbs)

– Poison → Death (both texts).

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Supporting Witnesses from the Rest of Scripture

• Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

• Galatians 6:8: “The one who sows to please his flesh… reaps destruction.”

• Ezekiel 18:4: “The soul who sins is the one who will die.”

• Psalm 1:6: “The way of the wicked will perish.”

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Practical Takeaways

• Evaluate desires by God’s Word, not by immediate taste.

• Recognize that unrepented sin always carries lethal consequences, however hidden at first.

• Pursue the “path of life” offered in Christ (John 14:6), whose way ends in eternal life instead of death.