Job 20

1 Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said:

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said:

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

For this do my thoughts lead me to reply, And for this is my ardor within me.

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

I have heard my shameful rebuke; And the spirit, from my understanding, answereth for me.

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

Knowest thou not, that from the days of old, From the time when man was placed upon the earth,

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

The triumphing of the wicked hath been short, And the joy of the impious but for a moment?

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

Though his greatness mount up to the heavens, And his head reach 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?

Yet shall he perish for ever, and be mingled with dust; They who saw him shall 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 shall flee away like a dream, and shall not be found; Yea, he shall disappear like a vision of the nigh.

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

The eye also which saw him shall see him no more, And his dwelling-place shall never more behold him.

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

His sons shall seek the favor of the poor, And their hands shall 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 his youth, But they shall lie down with him in the dust.

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

Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, Though he hide it under his tongue,

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

Though he cherish it, and will not part with it, And keep it fast in his mouth,

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

Yet his meat shall be changed within him, And become to him the poison of asps.

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

He hath glutted himself with riches, And he shall throw them up again; Yea, God shall cast them out of his body.

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

He shall suck the poison of asps; The tongue of the viper shall destroy him.

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

He shall never see the flowing streams, And the rivers 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.

The fruits of his toil he shall give back, and shall not enjoy them: It is substance to be restored, and he shall not rejoice therein.

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

Because he hath oppressed and abandoned the poor, And seized upon the house which he 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 he knew no rest in his bosom, He shall not save that in which he delighteth.

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

Because nothing escaped his greediness, His prosperity shall not endure.

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

In the fulness of his abundance he shall be brought low; Every hand of the wretched shall come upon 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.

He shall, indeed, have wherewith to fill himself: God shall send upon him the fury of his anger, And rain it down upon him for his food.

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

If he fleeth from the iron weapon, The bow of brass shall pierce him through.

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 draweth the arrow, and it cometh forth from his body; Yea, the glittering steel cometh out of his gall. Terrors are upon him;

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.

Calamity of every kind is treasured up for him. A fire not blown shall consume him; It shall consume whatever is left in his tent.

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

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

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

The substance of his house shall disappear; It shall flow away in the day of His wrath.

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

Such is the portion of the wicked man from God, And the inheritance appointed for him by the Almighty.