Job 20
1 Then Sophar the Minaean answered and said,
Then Zophar the Naamathite answered by saying:
2 I did not suppose that you would answer thus: neither do you understand more than I.
In response, various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind moves quickly through different ideas.
3 I will hear my shameful reproach; and the spirit of my understanding answers me.
The teaching you use to admonish me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding will respond for me.
4 Hast you [not] known these things of old, from the time that man was set upon the earth?
This, I know, is from the beginning, from the time that man was set over the earth:
5 But the mirth of the ungodly is a signal downfall, and the joy of transgressors is destruction:
that the praise of the impious shall be short, and the joy of the hypocrite lasts only a moment.
6 although his gifts should go up to heaven, and his sacrifice reach the clouds.
If his pride ascends even towards the heavens, and his head touches the clouds,
7 For when he shall seem to be now established, then he shall utterly perish: and they that knew him shall say, Where is he?
in the end, he will be destroyed like a trash heap, and those who had seen him will say: “Where is he?”
8 Like a dream that has fled away, he shall not be found; and he has fled like a vision of the night.
Like a dream that flies away, he will not be found; he will pass away like a nightmare.
9 The eye has looked upon him, but shall not [see him] again; and his place shall no longer perceive him.
The eyes that had seen him, will not see him; no longer will his own place admire him.
10 Let [his] inferiors destroy his children, and let his hands kindle the fire of sorrow.
His sons will be worn away by poverty, and his own hands will deliver his grief to him.
11 His bones have been filled with [vigour of] his youth, and it shall lie down with him in the dust.
His bones will be filled with the vices of his youth, and they will sleep with him in the dust.
12 Though evil be sweet in his mouth, [though] he will hide it under his tongue;
For, when evil will be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue.
13 though he will not spare it, and will not leave it, but will keep it in the midst of his throat:
He will permit it, and not abandon it, and he will conceal it in his throat.
14 yet he shall not at all be able to help himself; the gall of an asp is in his belly.
His bread in his belly will be turned into the venom of snakes within him.
15 [His] wealth unjustly collected shall be vomited up; a messenger [of wrath] shall drag him out of his house.
The riches that he devours, he will vomit up, and from his stomach God will draw them out.
16 And let him suck the poison of serpents, and let the serpent's tongue kill him.
He will suck the head of snakes, and the tongue of the viper will kill him.
17 Let him not see the milk of the pastures, nor the supplies of honey and butter.
(May he never see the streams of the river, the torrents of honey and butter.)
18 He has laboured unprofitably and in vain, [for] wealth of which he shall not taste: [it is] as a lean thing, unfit for food, which he can’t swallow.
He will be repaid for all he has done, yet he will not be consumed; according to the multitude of his schemes, so also will he suffer.
19 For he has broken down the houses of many mighty men: and he has plundered an habitation, though he built [it] not.
For, having broken in, he stripped the poor. He has quickly stolen away a house he did not build.
20 There is no security to his possessions; he shall not be saved by his desire.
And yet his stomach will not be satisfied, and when he has the things he desires, he will not be able to possess them.
21 There is nothing remaining of his provisions; therefore his goods shall not flourish.
Nothing remained of his portion, and, because of this, nothing will continue of his kind.
22 But when he shall seem to be just satisfied, he shall be straitened; and all distress shall come upon him.
When he will be satisfied, he will be constrained; he will seethe, and all anguish will fall upon him.
23 If by any means he would fill his belly, let [God] send upon him the fury of wrath; let him bring a torrent of pains upon him.
May his stomach be filled, so that God may send forth the fury of his wrath to him and may rain down his battle upon him.
24 And he shall by no means escape from the power of the sword; let the brazen bow wound him.
He will flee from weapons of iron, and he will fall in an arc of brass,
25 And let the arrow pierce through his body; and let the stars be against his dwelling-place: let terrors come upon him.
which had been drawn and had issued forth from its sheath, glittering in its bitterness: the horrible ones will go forth and approach over him.
26 And let all darkness wait for him: a fire that burns not out shall consume him; and let a stranger plague his house.
All darkness has been hidden in his secrecy. A fire that has not been set will devour him; he will be thrown down and forsaken in his tabernacle.
27 And let the heaven reveal his iniquities, and the earth rise up against him.
The heavens will reveal his sinfulness, and the earth will rise up against him.
28 Let destruction bring his house to an end; let a day of wrath come upon him.
The offspring of his house will be exposed; he will be pulled down in the day of God’s wrath.
29 This is the portion of an ungodly man from the Lord, and the possession of his goods [appointed him] by the all-seeing [God].
This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his words from the Lord.
