Job 20
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
Then answered Zophar the Na'amathite, and said,
2 “I'm forced to reply because I'm really upset!
Even therefore do my inmost thoughts give me an answer, and for this reason do I feel a strong excitement within me.
3 What I hear you say insults me, but I know how to reply to you!
Reproof which casteth shame on me must I hear; yet out of my understanding will the spirit give me an answer.
4 Don't you know that since ancient times, since human beings were put on this earth,
Dost thou know this? from the very beginning of things, from the very time when man was placed upon earth it was,
5 that the triumph of the wicked doesn't last long, that those who reject God are only happy for a short time?
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 Even though they are so tall they reach the heavens, even though their heads reach the clouds,
Though his exaltation should mount up to the heavens, and his head should reach unto the clouds;
7 they will vanish forever like their own excrement. People who knew them will ask, ‘Where have they gone?’
Yet when he but turneth round will he vanish for ever; those who have seen him will say, Where is he?
8 They will vanish like a dream, never to be found, fleeing like a vision of 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 Those who once saw them will not see them anymore; their families will never set eyes on them again.
If an eye have surveyed him, it will not do so again, and it will not behold him any more in his place.
10 Their children will have to pay back the poor; they will have to return their wealth.
His children will suffer oppression from the indigent, and his hands will have to restore his [ill-gotten] wealth.
11 Though the wicked have bodies that are young and strong, they will die and be buried.
[Now] his bones are full of his youthful vigor; but it will [suddenly] lie down with him in the dust.
12 Though evil tastes sweet in their mouths and they hide it under their tongues,
If the evil be sweet in his mouth, he will conceal it under his tongue;
13 not letting it go but keeping it in their mouths,
He will cherish it, and not forsake it; and hold it back within his palate;
14 in their stomachs it turns bitter, becoming like snake venom inside them.
His food is thus changed within his bowels, and becometh the venom of asps within him.
15 They swallow wealth and vomit it up again; God forces it from their stomachs.
The wealth which he hath swallowed, will he have to vomit up again; God will drive it out of his belly.
16 They suck in snake venom; the bite of the viper will kill them.
The poison of asps will he have to suck; the viper's tongue will slay him.
17 They will not live to enjoy the streams, the rivers of milk and honey.
He shall not look with pleasure on streams, on flowing brooks of honey and cream.
18 They will have to give back what they have gained and will not have any benefit; they will not enjoy any of their profits.
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 they have oppressed and abandoned the poor; they have seized houses they did not build.
Because he oppressed and forsook the indigent; because he took violently away a house, shall he not rebuild it;
20 Because their greed was never satisfied, nothing they liked is left that they didn't consume.
Because he knew not quietness in his bosom, shall he not escape through what is the most precious to him.
21 Nothing escapes their ravenous appetites, so their happiness doesn't last long.
Nothing was spared from his craving to eat: therefore shall his wealth not prosper.
22 Even when the wicked have all that they want they run into trouble; all kinds of misery will fall upon them.
In the fulness of his abundance will distress assail him: every hand of [those he] troubled will come against him.
23 While they are busy filling their bellies, God's hostility will burn against them, raining down on them.
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 As they flee to escape an iron weapon, a bronze arrow will strike them down.
If he flee from the iron weapon, the brazen bow will strike him through.
25 The arrow is pulled out of their gall bladder, glistening with blood. They are absolutely terrified!
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 All they value will disappear into the darkness; divine fire will destroy them; all they have left will go up in smoke.
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 reveal what they have done wrong; the earth will rise up against them.
The heavens will lay open his iniquity; and the earth will raise herself up against him.
28 All their possessions will be carried from their homes; they will be dragged off on the day of God's judgment.
The product of his house will be banished, flowing away on the day of his wrath.
29 This is the share the wicked receive from God, the inheritance God says they should have.”
This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and his decreed heritage from God.
