Job 20
1 And Zophar the Naamathite answers and says:
Forsothe Sophar Naamathites answeride, and seide,
2 “Therefore my thoughts cause me to answer, And because of my sensations in me.
Therfor my thouytis dyuerse comen oon aftir anothir; and the mynde is rauyischid in to dyuerse thingis.
3 I hear the discipline of my shame, And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer:
Y schal here the techyng, bi which thou repreuest me; and the spirit of myn vndurstondyng schal answere me.
4 Have you known this from antiquity? Since the placing of man on earth?
Y woot this fro the bigynnyng, sithen man was set on erthe,
5 That the singing of the wicked [is] short, And the joy of the profane 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 excellence goes up to the heavens, He strikes his head against a cloud—
Thouy his pride `stieth in to heuene, and his heed touchith the cloudis,
7 He perishes as his own dung forever, His beholders 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 He flees as a dream, and they do not find him, And he is driven away as a vision of the night,
As a dreem fleynge awei he schal not be foundun; he schal passe as `a nyytis siyt.
9 The eye has not seen him, and does not add. And his place does not behold him again.
The iye that siy hym schal not se; and his place schal no more biholde him.
10 His sons oppress the poor, And his hands give back his wealth.
Hise sones schulen be `al to-brokun with nedynesse; and hise hondis schulen yelde to hym his sorewe.
11 His bones have been full of his youth, and it lies down with him on the dust.
Hise boonys schulen be fillid with the vices of his yong wexynge age; and schulen slepe with hym in dust.
12 Though he sweetens evil in his mouth, hides it under his tongue,
For whanne yuel was swete in his mouth, he hidde it vndur his tunge.
13 has pity on it, and does not forsake it, and keeps it back in the midst of his palate,
He schal spare it, and schal not forsake it; and schal hide in his throte.
14 his food is turned in his bowels, the bitterness of cobras [is] in his heart.
His breed in his wombe schal be turned in to galle of snakis withynne.
15 He has swallowed wealth, and vomits it. God drives it out from his belly.
He schal spue out the richessis, whiche he deuouride; and God schal drawe tho ritchessis out of his wombe.
16 He sucks [the] gall of cobras, the tongue of a viper slays him.
He schal souke the heed of snakis; and the tunge of an addre schal sle hym.
17 He does not look on streams, Flowing of brooks of honey and butter.
Se he not the stremys of the flood of the stronde, of hony, and of botere.
18 He is giving back [what] he labored for, and does not consume [it]; As a bulwark [is] his exchange, and he does not exult.
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 For he oppressed—he forsook the poor, He has taken a house away violently, And he does not build it.
For he brake, and made nakid the hows of a pore man; he rauyschide, and bildide it not.
20 For he has not known ease in his belly. With his desirable thing he does not deliver himself.
And his wombe was not fillid; and whanne he hath that, that he couetide, he may not holde in possessioun.
21 There is not a remnant to his food, Therefore his good does not stay.
`No thing lefte of his mete; and therfor no thing schal dwelle of his goodis.
22 In the fullness of his sufficiency he is constricted. Every perverse hand meets him.
Whanne he is fillid, he schal be maad streit; he schal `be hoot, and alle sorewe schal falle in on hym.
23 It comes to pass, at the filling of his belly, He sends forth against him The fierceness of His anger, Indeed, He rains on him in 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 He flees from an iron weapon, A bow of bronze passes through him.
He schal fle yrun armuris, and he schal falle in to a brasun boowe.
25 One has drawn, And it comes out from the body, And a glittering weapon proceeds from his gall. Terrors [are] on him.
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 All darkness is hid for his treasures, A fire not blown consumes him, The remnant is broken 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 reveal his iniquity, And earth is raising itself against him.
Heuenes schulen schewe his wickidnesse; and erthe schal rise togidere ayens hym.
28 The increase of his house is removed, Poured forth in a day of His anger.
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 an inheritance appointed him by God.”
This is the part of a wickid man, `which part is youun of God, and the eritage of hise wordis of the Lord.
