Job 20
1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said:
Then Zophar the Naamathite answered by saying:
2 For this do my thoughts lead me to reply, And for this is my ardor within me.
In response, various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind moves quickly through different ideas.
3 I have heard my shameful rebuke; And the spirit, from my understanding, answereth for me.
The teaching you use to admonish me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding will respond for me.
4 Knowest thou not, that from the days of old, From the time when man was placed upon the earth,
This, I know, is from the beginning, from the time that man was set over the earth:
5 The triumphing of the wicked hath been short, And the joy of the impious but for a moment?
that the praise of the impious shall be short, and the joy of the hypocrite lasts only a moment.
6 Though his greatness mount up to the heavens, And his head reach to the clouds,
If his pride ascends even towards the heavens, and his head touches the clouds,
7 Yet shall he perish for ever, and be mingled with dust; They who saw 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 He shall flee away like a dream, and shall not be found; Yea, he shall disappear like a vision of the nigh.
Like a dream that flies away, he will not be found; he will pass away like a nightmare.
9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more, And his dwelling-place shall never more behold him.
The eyes that had seen him, will not see him; no longer will his own place admire him.
10 His sons shall seek the favor of the poor, And their hands shall give back his wealth.
His sons will be worn away by poverty, and his own hands will deliver his grief to him.
11 His bones are full of his youth, But they 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 wickedness be sweet in his mouth, Though he hide it under his tongue,
For, when evil will be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue.
13 Though he cherish it, and will not part with it, And keep it fast in his mouth,
He will permit it, and not abandon it, and he will conceal it in his throat.
14 Yet his meat shall be changed within him, And become to him the poison of asps.
His bread in his belly will be turned into the venom of snakes within him.
15 He hath glutted himself with riches, And he shall throw them up again; Yea, God shall cast them out of his body.
The riches that he devours, he will vomit up, and from his stomach God will draw them out.
16 He shall suck the poison of asps; The tongue of the viper shall destroy him.
He will suck the head of snakes, and the tongue of the viper will kill him.
17 He shall never see the flowing streams, And the rivers of honey and milk.
(May he never see the streams of the river, the torrents of honey and butter.)
18 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.
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 Because he hath oppressed and abandoned the poor, And seized upon the house which he did not build;
For, having broken in, he stripped the poor. He has quickly stolen away a house he did not build.
20 Because he knew no rest in his bosom, He shall not save that in which he delighteth.
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 Because nothing escaped his greediness, His prosperity shall not endure.
Nothing remained of his portion, and, because of this, nothing will continue of his kind.
22 In the fulness of his abundance he shall be brought low; Every hand of the wretched shall come upon him.
When he will be satisfied, he will be constrained; he will seethe, and all anguish will fall upon him.
23 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.
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 If he fleeth from the iron weapon, The bow of brass shall pierce him through.
He will flee from weapons of iron, and he will fall in an arc of brass,
25 He draweth the arrow, and it cometh forth from his body; Yea, the glittering steel cometh out of his gall. Terrors are 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 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.
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 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, And the earth shall rise up against him.
The heavens will reveal his sinfulness, and the earth will rise up against him.
28 The substance of his house shall disappear; It shall flow away in the day of His wrath.
The offspring of his house will be exposed; he will be pulled down in the day of God’s wrath.
29 Such is the portion of the wicked man from God, And the inheritance appointed for him by the Almighty.
This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his words from the Lord.
