Job 20
1 And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
Then Zophar replied,
2 Therefore do my thoughts give me an answer, and for this is my haste within me.
“I am very perturbed about what you have said, so I want to reply very quickly.
3 I hear a reproof putting me to shame; and [my] spirit answereth me by mine understanding.
By saying these things you have insulted me, but I know how (OR, because I understand very much) I can reply to you.
4 Knowest thou [not] this, that of old, since man was placed upon earth,
“Do you not know that from long ago, ever since people were first put on the earth,
5 The exultation of the wicked is short, and the joy of the ungodly man but for a moment?
wicked people [like you] do not continue to rejoice for a long time, ungodly people are happy only for a (moment/very short time) [HYP]?
6 Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds,
[Even] though their reputation/pride reaches up to the sky and their fame goes up as high as the clouds,
7 Like his own dung doth he perish for ever; they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
they will disappear forever, like their own dung, and those who knew them will ask, ‘(Where did they go/What happened to them)?’
8 He flieth away as a dream, and is not found; and is chased away as a vision of the night.
They will be forgotten like [SIM] a dream is, and they will exist no more. They will vanish, like visions [that people see] during the night.
9 The eye which saw him shall [see him] not again; and his place beholdeth him no more.
Those who saw those people previously will never see them again; even their families [MTY] will not see them any more.
10 His children shall seek the favour of the poor, and his hands restore his wealth.
Their children will be forced to return the valuable things that those children stole from poor people [DOU].
11 His bones were full of his youthful strength; but it shall lie down with him in the dust.
Previously their bodies were young and strong, but they will die and [their bodies will] be buried in the ground.
12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth [and] he hide it under his tongue,
“Doing wicked things was like having sweet food in their mouths, and they wanted to continue to taste it.
13 [Though] he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it within his mouth,
And they did not want to stop doing those things,
14 His food is turned in his bowels; it is the gall of asps within him.
[but some day] the evil things that they enjoyed doing will become like food [that they swallow] [and which becomes] as bitter as snake venom.
15 He hath swallowed down riches, but he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.
Wicked people will not continue to keep the money they have accumulated, like people do not keep the food that they vomit. God takes their wealth from them.
16 He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue shall kill him.
What wicked people do is [like] [MET] swallowing snake venom; it will kill them like [MET] the bite of a poisonous snake kills people.
17 He shall not see streams, rivers, brooks of honey and butter.
They will not remain alive to see abundant blessings [IDM] [from God], milk and olive oil and honey, that are [so abundant they are] like [MET] a stream that flows by.
18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and not swallow down; its restitution shall be according to the value, and he shall not rejoice [therein].
They will be forced to give back the things that they stole from the poor; they will not be able to continue to enjoy those things. They will not remain happy because of what they got from their businesses,
19 For he hath oppressed, hath forsaken the poor; he hath violently taken away a house that he did not build.
because they oppressed poor people and refused to help them, and they took other people’s houses [by cheating them].
20 Because he knew no rest in his craving, he shall save nought of what he most desired.
“They were always greedy and never satisfied. They just keep dreaming about owning more and more things.
21 Nothing escaped his greediness; therefore his prosperity shall not endure.
When they finished eating their food, there was never anything left over [because they had greedily eaten it all]; but now their prosperity will end.
22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits; every hand of the wretched shall come upon him.
When they are extremely prosperous/wealthy, they will suddenly experience a lot of trouble. (Misery will strike them and crush them [PRS]/They will suffer very greatly).
23 It shall be that, to fill his belly, he will cast his fierce anger upon him, and will rain it upon him into his flesh.
When the wicked people are filling their stomachs, God will show that he is very angry with them and punish them; the punishment [that he gives them] will be like [MET] rain falling on them.
24 If he have fled from the iron weapon, the bow of brass shall strike him through.
They will try to escape from [being killed by] iron weapons, but arrows with bronze points will pierce them.
25 He draweth it forth; it cometh out of his body, and the glittering point out of his gall: terrors are upon him.
The arrows will [go completely through their bodies and] stick out of their backs; the shiny points of the arrows will have blood dripping from them, and those wicked people will be terrified.
26 All darkness is laid up for his treasures: a fire not blown shall devour him; it shall feed upon what is left in his tent.
Their valuable possessions will all be destroyed; a fire that is not lit by humans, [but by God, ] will burn them up and also destroy the things that are left in their tents.
27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him.
The [angels in] heaven [MTY] will reveal the sins that those wicked people have committed, and [people on] earth will stand up and testify against them.
28 The increase of his house shall depart, flowing away in the day of his anger.
When God punishes [MTY] [people], all the possessions in the wicked people’s houses will be carried away by a flood.
29 This is the portion of the wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by God.
That is what will happen to wicked people [like you]; that is what God has decided will happen to them.”
