Job 20
1 Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said:
Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
2 Therefore various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind is hurried away to different things.
“I'm forced to reply because I'm really upset!
3 The doctrine with which thou reprovest me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding shall answer for me.
What I hear you say insults me, but I know how to reply to you!
4 This I know from the beginning, since man was placed upon the earth,
Don't you know that since ancient times, since human beings were put on this earth,
5 That the praise of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment.
that the triumph of the wicked doesn't last long, that those who reject God are only happy for a short time?
6 If his pride mount up even to heaven, and his head touch the clouds:
Even though they are so tall they reach the heavens, even though their heads reach the clouds,
7 In the end he shall be destroyed like a dunghill, and they that has seen him shall say: Where is he?
they will vanish forever like their own excrement. People who knew them will ask, ‘Where have they gone?’
8 As a dream that fleeth away he shall not be found, he shall pass as a vision of the night:
They will vanish like a dream, never to be found, fleeing 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.
Those who once saw them will not see them anymore; their families will never set eyes on them again.
10 His children shall be oppressed with want, and his hands shall render him his sorrow.
Their children will have to pay back the poor; they will have to return their wealth.
11 His bones shall be filled with the vices of his youth, and they shall sleep with him in the dust.
Though the wicked have bodies that are young and strong, they will die and be buried.
12 For when evil shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue.
Though evil tastes sweet in their mouths and they hide it under their tongues,
13 He will spare it, and not leave it, and will hide it in his throat.
not letting it go but keeping it in their mouths,
14 His bread in his belly shall be turned into the gall of asps within him.
in their stomachs it turns bitter, becoming like snake venom inside them.
15 The riches which he hath swallowed; he shall vomit up, and God shall draw them out of his belly.
They swallow wealth and vomit it up again; God forces it from their stomachs.
16 He shall suck the head of asps, and the viper’s tongue shall kill him.
They suck in snake venom; the bite of the viper will kill them.
17 (Let him not see the streams of the river, the brooks of honey and of butter.)
They will not live to enjoy the streams, the rivers of milk and honey.
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.
They will have to give back what they have gained and will not have any benefit; they will not enjoy any of their profits.
19 Because he broke in and stripped the poor: he hath violently taken away a house which he did not build.
For they have oppressed and abandoned the poor; they have seized houses they did not build.
20 And yet his belly was not filled: and when he hath the things he coveted, he shall not be able to possess them.
Because their greed was never satisfied, nothing they liked is left that they didn't consume.
21 There was nothing left of his meat, and therefore nothing shall continue of his goods:
Nothing escapes their ravenous appetites, so their happiness doesn't last long.
22 When he shall be filled, he shall be straitened, he shall burn, and every sorrow shall fall upon him.
Even when the wicked have all that they want they run into trouble; all kinds of misery will fall upon them.
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.
While they are busy filling their bellies, God's hostility will burn against them, raining down on them.
24 He shall flee from weapons of iron, and shall fall upon a bow of brass.
As they flee to escape an iron weapon, a bronze arrow will strike them down.
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.
The arrow is pulled out of their gall bladder, glistening with blood. They are absolutely terrified!
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 they value will disappear into the darkness; divine fire will destroy them; all they have left will go up in smoke.
27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him.
The heavens reveal what they have done wrong; the earth will rise up against them.
28 The offspring of his house shall be exposed, he shall be pulled down in the day of God’s wrath.
All their possessions will be carried from their homes; they will be dragged off on the day of God's judgment.
29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his doings from the Lord.
This is the share the wicked receive from God, the inheritance God says they should have.”
