Job 20
1 Then answered Zophar the Na'amathite, and said,
Forsothe Sophar Naamathites answeride, and seide,
2 Even therefore do my inmost thoughts give me an answer, and for this reason do I feel a strong excitement within me.
Therfor my thouytis dyuerse comen oon aftir anothir; and the mynde is rauyischid in to dyuerse thingis.
3 Reproof which casteth shame on me must I hear; yet out of my understanding will the spirit give me an answer.
Y schal here the techyng, bi which thou repreuest me; and the spirit of myn vndurstondyng schal answere me.
4 Dost thou know this? from the very beginning of things, from the very time when man was placed upon earth it was,
Y woot this fro the bigynnyng, sithen man was set on erthe,
5 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.
that the preisyng of wickid men is schort, and the ioie of an ypocrite is at the licnesse of a poynt.
6 Though his exaltation should mount up to the heavens, and his head should reach unto the clouds;
Thouy his pride `stieth in to heuene, and his heed touchith the cloudis,
7 Yet when he but turneth round will he vanish for ever; those who have seen him will say, Where is he?
he schal be lost in the ende, as a dunghil; and, thei that sien hym, schulen seie, Where is he?
8 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.
As a dreem fleynge awei he schal not be foundun; he schal passe as `a nyytis siyt.
9 If an eye have surveyed him, it will not do so again, and it will not behold him any more in his place.
The iye that siy hym schal not se; and his place schal no more biholde him.
10 His children will suffer oppression from the indigent, and his hands will have to restore his [ill-gotten] wealth.
Hise sones schulen be `al to-brokun with nedynesse; and hise hondis schulen yelde to hym his sorewe.
11 [Now] his bones are full of his youthful vigor; but it will [suddenly] lie down with him in the dust.
Hise boonys schulen be fillid with the vices of his yong wexynge age; and schulen slepe with hym in dust.
12 If the evil be sweet in his mouth, he will conceal it under his tongue;
For whanne yuel was swete in his mouth, he hidde it vndur his tunge.
13 He will cherish it, and not forsake it; and hold it back within his palate;
He schal spare it, and schal not forsake it; and schal hide in his throte.
14 His food is thus changed within his bowels, and becometh the venom of asps within him.
His breed in his wombe schal be turned in to galle of snakis withynne.
15 The wealth which he hath swallowed, will he have to vomit up again; God will drive it out of his belly.
He schal spue out the richessis, whiche he deuouride; and God schal drawe tho ritchessis out of his wombe.
16 The poison of asps will he have to suck; the viper's tongue will slay him.
He schal souke the heed of snakis; and the tunge of an addre schal sle hym.
17 He shall not look with pleasure on streams, on flowing brooks of honey and cream.
Se he not the stremys of the flood of the stronde, of hony, and of botere.
18 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.
He schal suffre peyne for alle thingis whiche he hath do, netheles he schal not be wastid; aftir the multitude of his fyndyngis, so and `he schal suffre.
19 Because he oppressed and forsook the indigent; because he took violently away a house, shall he not rebuild it;
For he brake, and made nakid the hows of a pore man; he rauyschide, and bildide it not.
20 Because he knew not quietness in his bosom, shall he not escape through what is the most precious to him.
And his wombe was not fillid; and whanne he hath that, that he couetide, he may not holde in possessioun.
21 Nothing was spared from his craving to eat: therefore shall his wealth not prosper.
`No thing lefte of his mete; and therfor no thing schal dwelle of his goodis.
22 In the fulness of his abundance will distress assail him: every hand of [those he] troubled will come against him.
Whanne he is fillid, he schal be maad streit; he schal `be hoot, and alle sorewe schal falle in on hym.
23 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.
`Y wolde, that his wombe be fillid, that he sende out in to hym the ire of his strong veniaunce, and reyne his batel on hym.
24 If he flee from the iron weapon, the brazen bow will strike him through.
He schal fle yrun armuris, and he schal falle in to a brasun boowe.
25 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].
Led out, and goynge out `of his schethe, and schynynge, `ether smytinge with leit, `in to his bittirnesse; orrible fendis schulen go, and schulen come on hym.
26 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.
Alle derknessis ben hid in hise priuytees; fier, which is not teendid, schal deuoure hym; he schal be turmentid left in his tabernacle.
27 The heavens will lay open his iniquity; and the earth will raise herself up against him.
Heuenes schulen schewe his wickidnesse; and erthe schal rise togidere ayens hym.
28 The product of his house will be banished, flowing away on the day of his wrath.
The seed of his hows schal be opyn; it schal be drawun doun in the dai of the strong veniaunce of the Lord.
29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and his decreed heritage from God.
This is the part of a wickid man, `which part is youun of God, and the eritage of hise wordis of the Lord.
