Job 20
1 Forsothe Sophar Naamathites answeride, and seide,
Then Zophar replied,
2 Therfor my thouytis dyuerse comen oon aftir anothir; and the mynde is rauyischid in to dyuerse thingis.
“I am very perturbed about what you have said, so I want to reply very quickly.
3 Y schal here the techyng, bi which thou repreuest me; and the spirit of myn vndurstondyng schal answere 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 Y woot this fro the bigynnyng, sithen man was set on erthe,
“Do you not know that from long ago, ever since people were first put on the earth,
5 that the preisyng of wickid men is schort, and the ioie of an ypocrite is at the licnesse of a poynt.
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 Thouy his pride `stieth in to heuene, and his heed touchith the cloudis,
[Even] though their reputation/pride reaches up to the sky and their fame goes up as high as the clouds,
7 he schal be lost in the ende, as a dunghil; and, thei that sien hym, schulen seie, 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 As a dreem fleynge awei he schal not be foundun; he schal passe as `a nyytis siyt.
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 iye that siy hym schal not se; and his place schal no more biholde him.
Those who saw those people previously will never see them again; even their families [MTY] will not see them any more.
10 Hise sones schulen be `al to-brokun with nedynesse; and hise hondis schulen yelde to hym his sorewe.
Their children will be forced to return the valuable things that those children stole from poor people [DOU].
11 Hise boonys schulen be fillid with the vices of his yong wexynge age; and schulen slepe with hym in dust.
Previously their bodies were young and strong, but they will die and [their bodies will] be buried in the ground.
12 For whanne yuel was swete in his mouth, he hidde it vndur his tunge.
“Doing wicked things was like having sweet food in their mouths, and they wanted to continue to taste it.
13 He schal spare it, and schal not forsake it; and schal hide in his throte.
And they did not want to stop doing those things,
14 His breed in his wombe schal be turned in to galle of snakis withynne.
[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 schal spue out the richessis, whiche he deuouride; and God schal drawe tho ritchessis out of his wombe.
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 schal souke the heed of snakis; and the tunge of an addre schal sle hym.
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 Se he not the stremys of the flood of the stronde, of hony, and of botere.
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 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.
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 brake, and made nakid the hows of a pore man; he rauyschide, and bildide it not.
because they oppressed poor people and refused to help them, and they took other people’s houses [by cheating them].
20 And his wombe was not fillid; and whanne he hath that, that he couetide, he may not holde in possessioun.
“They were always greedy and never satisfied. They just keep dreaming about owning more and more things.
21 `No thing lefte of his mete; and therfor no thing schal dwelle of his goodis.
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 Whanne he is fillid, he schal be maad streit; he schal `be hoot, and alle sorewe schal falle in on hym.
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 `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.
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 schal fle yrun armuris, and he schal falle in to a brasun boowe.
They will try to escape from [being killed by] iron weapons, but arrows with bronze points will pierce them.
25 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.
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 Alle derknessis ben hid in hise priuytees; fier, which is not teendid, schal deuoure hym; he schal be turmentid left in his tabernacle.
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 Heuenes schulen schewe his wickidnesse; and erthe schal rise togidere ayens hym.
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 seed of his hows schal be opyn; it schal be drawun doun in the dai of the strong veniaunce of the Lord.
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 part of a wickid man, `which part is youun of God, and the eritage of hise wordis of the Lord.
That is what will happen to wicked people [like you]; that is what God has decided will happen to them.”
