Job 20

1 Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said:

Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said,

2 Therefore various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind is hurried away to different things.

For this cause my thoughts are troubling me and driving me on.

3 The doctrine with which thou reprovest me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding shall answer for me.

I have to give ear to arguments which put me to shame, and your answers to me are wind without wisdom.

4 This I know from the beginning, since man was placed upon the earth,

Have you knowledge of this from early times, when man was placed on the earth,

5 That the praise of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment.

That the pride of the sinner is short, and the joy of the evil-doer but for a minute?

6 If his pride mount up even to heaven, and his head touch the clouds:

Though he is lifted up to the heavens, and his head goes up to the clouds;

7 In the end he shall be destroyed like a dunghill, and they that has seen him shall say: Where is he?

Like the waste from his body he comes to an end for ever: those who have seen him say, Where is he?

8 As a dream that fleeth away he shall not be found, he shall pass as a vision of the night:

He is gone like a dream, and is not seen again; he goes in flight like a vision of the night.

9 The eyes that had seen him, shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more behold him.

The eye which saw him sees him no longer; and his place has no more knowledge of him.

10 His children shall be oppressed with want, and his hands shall render him his sorrow.

His children are hoping that the poor will be kind to them, and his hands give back his wealth.

11 His bones shall be filled with the vices of his youth, and they shall sleep with him in the dust.

His bones are full of young strength, but it will go down with him into the dust.

12 For when evil shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue.

Though evil-doing is sweet in his mouth, and he keeps it secretly under his tongue;

13 He will spare it, and not leave it, and will hide it in his throat.

Though he takes care of it, and does not let it go, but keeps it still in his mouth;

14 His bread in his belly shall be turned into the gall of asps within him.

His food becomes bitter in his stomach; the poison of snakes is inside him.

15 The riches which he hath swallowed; he shall vomit up, and God shall draw them out of his belly.

He takes down wealth as food, and sends it up again; it is forced out of his stomach by God.

16 He shall suck the head of asps, and the viper’s tongue shall kill him.

He takes the poison of snakes into his mouth, the tongue of the snake is the cause of his death.

17 (Let him not see the streams of the river, the brooks of honey and of butter.)

Let him not see the rivers of oil, the streams of honey and milk.

18 He shall be punished for all that he did, and yet shall not be consumed: according to the multitude of his devices so also shall he suffer.

He is forced to give back the fruit of his work, and may not take it for food; he has no joy in the profit of his trading.

19 Because he broke in and stripped the poor: he hath violently taken away a house which he did not build.

Because he has been cruel to the poor, turning away from them in their trouble; because he has taken a house by force which he did not put up;

20 And yet his belly was not filled: and when he hath the things he coveted, he shall not be able to possess them.

There is no peace for him in his wealth, and no salvation for him in those things in which he took delight.

21 There was nothing left of his meat, and therefore nothing shall continue of his goods:

He had never enough for his desire; for this cause his well-being will quickly come to an end.

22 When he shall be filled, he shall be straitened, he shall burn, and every sorrow shall fall upon him.

Even when his wealth is great, he is full of care, for the hand of everyone who is in trouble is turned against him.

23 May his belly be filled, that God may send forth the wrath of his indignation upon him, and rain down his war upon him.

God gives him his desire, and sends the heat of his wrath on him, making it come down on him like rain.

24 He shall flee from weapons of iron, and shall fall upon a bow of brass.

He may go in flight from the iron spear, but the arrow from the bow of brass will go through him;

25 The sword is drawn out, and cometh forth from its scabbard, and glittereth in his bitterness: the terrible ones shall go and come upon him.

He is pulling it out, and it comes out of his back; and its shining point comes out of his side; he is overcome by fears.

26 All darkness is hid in his secret places: a fire that is not kindled shall devour him, he shall be afflicted when left in his tabernacle.

All his wealth is stored up for the dark: a fire not made by man sends destruction on him, and on everything in his tent.

27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him.

The heavens make clear his sin, and the earth gives witness against him.

28 The offspring of his house shall be exposed, he shall be pulled down in the day of God’s wrath.

The produce of his house is taken away into another country, like things given into the hands of others in the day of wrath.

29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his doings from the Lord.

This is the reward of the evil man, and the heritage given to him by God.