Job 20
1 Then responded Zophar the Naamathite, and said: —
Then Zophar replied,
2 Not so, do my thoughts answer me, and to this end, is my haste within me:
“I am very perturbed about what you have said, so I want to reply very quickly.
3 The correction meant to confound me, I must hear, but, the spirit—out of my understanding, will give me a reply.
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, this—from antiquity, from the placing of man upon earth: —
“Do you not know that from long ago, ever since people were first put on the earth,
5 That, the joy-shout of the lawless, is short, and, the rejoicing of the impious, 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 elevation mount up to the heavens, and, his head, to the clouds, doth reach,
[Even] though their reputation/pride reaches up to the sky and their fame goes up as high as the clouds,
7 Like his own stubble, shall he utterly perish, They who had seen 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 Like a dream, shall he fly away, and they shall not find him, yea he shall be chased away, as a vision of the night.
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 that hath scanned him, shall not do it again, neither, any more, shall his place 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 children, shall seek the favour of the poor, and, his own hand, 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 youthful vigour, yet, with him—in the dust, shall it lie down.
Previously their bodies were young and strong, but they will die and [their bodies will] be buried in the ground.
12 Though, a sweet taste in his mouth, be given by vice, 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 spare it, and will not let it go, but retain it in the midst of his mouth,
And they did not want to stop doing those things,
14 His food, in his stomach, is changed, the gall of adders, within him!
[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 Wealth, hath he swallowed, and hath vomited the same, Out of his belly, shall, GOD, drive it forth:
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 The poison of adders, shall he suck, The tongue of the viper shall slay 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 Let him not see in the channels the flowings of torrents 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 In vain, he toiled, he shall not swallow, like wealth to be restored, in which he cannot exult!
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 For he hath oppressed—hath forsaken the poor, A house, hath he seized, which he cannot rebuild.
because they oppressed poor people and refused to help them, and they took other people’s houses [by cheating them].
20 Surely he hath known no peace in his inmost mind, —With his dearest thing, shall he not get away:
“They were always greedy and never satisfied. They just keep dreaming about owning more and more things.
21 Nothing escaped his devouring greed, —For this cause, shall his prosperity not continue:
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 When his abundance is gone, he shall be in straits, All the power of distress, 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 It shall be that, to fill his belly, he will thrust at him the glow of his anger, and rain [it] upon him for his punishment.
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 He shall flee from the armour of iron, —There shall pierce him, a bow of bronze!
They will try to escape from [being killed by] iron weapons, but arrows with bronze points will pierce them.
25 He hath drawn it out, and it hath come forth out of his back, —yea the flashing arrow-head, out of his gall, There shall march on him—terrors:
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 Every misfortune, is laid up for his treasures, —There shall consume, a fire, not blown up, —it shall destroy what remaineth 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, be rising 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 increase of his house shall vanish, melting away in the day of his anger.
When God punishes [MTY] [people], all the possessions in the wicked people’s houses will be carried away by a flood.
29 This, is the portion of the lawless man, from God, and the inheritance decreed him from the Mighty One.
That is what will happen to wicked people [like you]; that is what God has decided will happen to them.”
