Job 20

1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said:

Then Zophar replied,

2 For this do my thoughts lead me to reply, And for this is my ardor within me.

“I am very perturbed about what you have said, so I want to reply very quickly.

3 I have heard my shameful rebuke; And the spirit, from my understanding, answereth for me.

By saying these things you have insulted me, but I know how (OR, because I understand very much) I can reply to you.

4 Knowest thou not, that from the days of old, From the time when man was placed upon the earth,

“Do you not know that from long ago, ever since people were first put on the earth,

5 The triumphing of the wicked hath been short, And the joy of the impious but for a moment?

wicked people [like you] do not continue to rejoice for a long time, ungodly people are happy only for a (moment/very short time) [HYP]?

6 Though his greatness mount up to the heavens, And his head reach to the clouds,

[Even] though their reputation/pride reaches up to the sky and their fame goes up as high as the clouds,

7 Yet shall he perish for ever, and be mingled with dust; They who saw him shall say, Where is he?

they will disappear forever, like their own dung, and those who knew them will ask, ‘(Where did they go/What happened to them)?’

8 He shall flee away like a dream, and shall not be found; Yea, he shall disappear like a vision of the nigh.

They will be forgotten like [SIM] a dream is, and they will exist no more. They will vanish, like visions [that people see] during the night.

9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more, And his dwelling-place shall never more behold him.

Those who saw those people previously will never see them again; even their families [MTY] will not see them any more.

10 His sons shall seek the favor of the poor, And their hands shall give back his wealth.

Their children will be forced to return the valuable things that those children stole from poor people [DOU].

11 His bones are full of his youth, But they shall lie down with him in the dust.

Previously their bodies were young and strong, but they will die and [their bodies will] be buried in the ground.

12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, Though he hide it under his tongue,

“Doing wicked things was like having sweet food in their mouths, and they wanted to continue to taste it.

13 Though he cherish it, and will not part with it, And keep it fast in his mouth,

And they did not want to stop doing those things,

14 Yet his meat shall be changed within him, And become to him the poison of asps.

[but some day] the evil things that they enjoyed doing will become like food [that they swallow] [and which becomes] as bitter as snake venom.

15 He hath glutted himself with riches, And he shall throw them up again; Yea, God shall cast them out of his body.

Wicked people will not continue to keep the money they have accumulated, like people do not keep the food that they vomit. God takes their wealth from them.

16 He shall suck the poison of asps; The tongue of the viper shall destroy him.

What wicked people do is [like] [MET] swallowing snake venom; it will kill them like [MET] the bite of a poisonous snake kills people.

17 He shall never see the flowing streams, And the rivers of honey and milk.

They will not remain alive to see abundant blessings [IDM] [from God], milk and olive oil and honey, that are [so abundant they are] like [MET] a stream that flows by.

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.

They will be forced to give back the things that they stole from the poor; they will not be able to continue to enjoy those things. They will not remain happy because of what they got from their businesses,

19 Because he hath oppressed and abandoned the poor, And seized upon the house which he did not build;

because they oppressed poor people and refused to help them, and they took other people’s houses [by cheating them].

20 Because he knew no rest in his bosom, He shall not save that in which he delighteth.

“They were always greedy and never satisfied. They just keep dreaming about owning more and more things.

21 Because nothing escaped his greediness, His prosperity shall not endure.

When they finished eating their food, there was never anything left over [because they had greedily eaten it all]; but now their prosperity will end.

22 In the fulness of his abundance he shall be brought low; Every hand of the wretched shall come upon him.

When they are extremely prosperous/wealthy, they will suddenly experience a lot of trouble. (Misery will strike them and crush them [PRS]/They will suffer very greatly).

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.

When the wicked people are filling their stomachs, God will show that he is very angry with them and punish them; the punishment [that he gives them] will be like [MET] rain falling on them.

24 If he fleeth from the iron weapon, The bow of brass shall pierce him through.

They will try to escape from [being killed by] iron weapons, but arrows with bronze points will pierce them.

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;

The arrows will [go completely through their bodies and] stick out of their backs; the shiny points of the arrows will have blood dripping from them, and those wicked people will be terrified.

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.

Their valuable possessions will all be destroyed; a fire that is not lit by humans, [but by God, ] will burn them up and also destroy the things that are left in their tents.

27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, And the earth shall rise up against him.

The [angels in] heaven [MTY] will reveal the sins that those wicked people have committed, and [people on] earth will stand up and testify against them.

28 The substance of his house shall disappear; It shall flow away in the day of His wrath.

When God punishes [MTY] [people], all the possessions in the wicked people’s houses will be carried away by a flood.

29 Such is the portion of the wicked man from God, And the inheritance appointed for him by the Almighty.

That is what will happen to wicked people [like you]; that is what God has decided will happen to them.”