Job 20
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
Then answered Zophar the Na'amathite, and said,
2 “So my anxious thoughts compel me to answer, because of the turmoil within me.
Even therefore do my inmost thoughts give me an answer, and for this reason do I feel a strong excitement within me.
3 I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding prompts a reply.
Reproof which casteth shame on me must I hear; yet out of my understanding will the spirit give me an answer.
4 Do you not know that from antiquity, since man was placed on the earth,
Dost thou know this? from the very beginning of things, from the very time when man was placed upon earth it was,
5 the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
That the triumphal shouting of the wicked is ever of but a recent date, and the joy of the hypocrite endureth only for a moment.
6 Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds,
Though his exaltation should mount up to the heavens, and his head should reach unto the clouds;
7 he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’
Yet when he but turneth round will he vanish for ever; those who have seen him will say, Where is he?
8 He will fly away like a dream, never to be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.
Like a dream will he fly away, and men will find him no more; yea, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his place will no longer behold him.
If an eye have surveyed him, it will not do so again, and it will not behold him any more in his place.
10 His sons will seek the favor of the poor, for his own hands must return his wealth.
His children will suffer oppression from the indigent, and his hands will have to restore his [ill-gotten] wealth.
11 The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie down with him in the dust.
[Now] his bones are full of his youthful vigor; but it will [suddenly] lie down with him in the dust.
12 Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,
If the evil be sweet in his mouth, he will conceal it under his tongue;
13 though he cannot bear to let it go and keeps it in his mouth,
He will cherish it, and not forsake it; and hold it back within his palate;
14 yet in his stomach his food sours into the venom of cobras within him.
His food is thus changed within his bowels, and becometh the venom of asps within him.
15 He swallows wealth but vomits it out; God will force it from his stomach.
The wealth which he hath swallowed, will he have to vomit up again; God will drive it out of his belly.
16 He will suck the poison of cobras; the fangs of a viper will kill him.
The poison of asps will he have to suck; the viper's tongue will slay him.
17 He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
He shall not look with pleasure on streams, on flowing brooks of honey and cream.
18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.
He restoreth what he hath labored for, and will not swallow it down; however much he may have obtained by toil, he will not have any joy of it.
19 For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; he has seized houses he did not build.
Because he oppressed and forsook the indigent; because he took violently away a house, shall he not rebuild it;
20 Because his appetite is never satisfied, he cannot escape with his treasure.
Because he knew not quietness in his bosom, shall he not escape through what is the most precious to him.
21 Nothing is left for him to consume; thus his prosperity will not endure.
Nothing was spared from his craving to eat: therefore shall his wealth not prosper.
22 In the midst of his plenty, he will be distressed; the full force of misery will come upon him.
In the fulness of his abundance will distress assail him: every hand of [those he] troubled will come against him.
23 When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats.
In order to fill his belly, [God] will send out against him the fury of his wrath, and will rain it upon him for his eating.
24 Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him.
If he flee from the iron weapon, the brazen bow will strike him through.
25 It is drawn out of his back, the gleaming point from his liver. Terrors come over him.
He draweth it, and it cometh out of the body; yea, out of his gall the glittering [arrow] cometh forth: over him come the terrors [of death].
26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
Entire darkness is laid by for his treasures: a fire not urged by blowing will consume him; it will destroy any one that is left in his tent.
27 The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.
The heavens will lay open his iniquity; and the earth will raise herself up against him.
28 The possessions of his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God’s wrath.
The product of his house will be banished, flowing away on the day of his wrath.
29 This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the inheritance God has appointed him.”
This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and his decreed heritage from God.
