Job 20
1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
Forsothe Sophar Naamathites answeride, and seide,
2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for [this] I make haste.
Therfor my thouytis dyuerse comen oon aftir anothir; and the mynde is rauyischid in to dyuerse thingis.
3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.
Y schal here the techyng, bi which thou repreuest me; and the spirit of myn vndurstondyng schal answere me.
4 Knowest thou [not] this of old, since man was placed upon earth,
Y woot this fro the bigynnyng, sithen man was set on erthe,
5 That the triumphing of the wicked [is] short, and the joy of the hypocrite [but] 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 shall mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds;
Thouy his pride `stieth in to heuene, and his heed touchith the cloudis,
7 [Yet] he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they who have seen him shall 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 shall fly away as a dream, and will not be found: yea, he shall be chased 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 also [which] saw him shall [see him] no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.
The iye that siy hym schal not se; and his place schal no more biholde him.
10 His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.
Hise sones schulen be `al to-brokun with nedynesse; and hise hondis schulen yelde to hym his sorewe.
11 His bones are full [of the sin] of his youth, which shall 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 Though wickedness may be sweet in his mouth, [though] he may hide it under his tongue;
For whanne yuel was swete in his mouth, he hidde it vndur his tunge.
13 [Though] he may spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:
He schal spare it, and schal not forsake it; and schal hide in his throte.
14 [Yet] his food in his bowels is turned, [it is] the gall of asps within him.
His breed in his wombe schal be turned in to galle of snakis withynne.
15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.
He schal spue out the richessis, whiche he deuouride; and God schal drawe tho ritchessis out of his wombe.
16 He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him.
He schal souke the heed of snakis; and the tunge of an addre schal sle hym.
17 He shall not see the river, the floods, the brooks of honey and buttermilk.
Se he not the stremys of the flood of the stronde, of hony, and of botere.
18 That which he labored for shall he restore, and shall not swallow [it]: according to [his] substance [shall] the restitution [be], and he shall not rejoice [in 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 hath oppressed [and] hath forsaken the poor; [because] he hath violently taken away a house which he did not build.
For he brake, and made nakid the hows of a pore man; he rauyschide, and bildide it not.
20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.
And his wombe was not fillid; and whanne he hath that, that he couetide, he may not holde in possessioun.
21 There shall none of his food be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.
`No thing lefte of his mete; and therfor no thing schal dwelle of his goodis.
22 In the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.
Whanne he is fillid, he schal be maad streit; he schal `be hoot, and alle sorewe schal falle in on hym.
23 [When] he is about to fill his belly, [God] shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain [it] upon him while he is 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 shall flee from the iron weapon, [and] the bow of steel shall strike him through.
He schal fle yrun armuris, and he schal falle in to a brasun boowe.
25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yes, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors [are] upon 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 [shall be] hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.
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 heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.
Heuenes schulen schewe his wickidnesse; and erthe schal rise togidere ayens hym.
28 The increase of his house shall depart, [and his goods] shall flow away in 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 the heritage appointed to 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.
