Ἰώβ 20
1 ὑπολαβὼν δὲ Σωφαρ ὁ Μιναῖος λέγει
Then Zophar replied,
2 οὐχ οὕτως ὑπελάμβανον ἀντερεῖν σε ταῦτα καὶ οὐχὶ συνίετε μᾶλλον ἢ καὶ ἐγώ
“I am very perturbed about what you have said, so I want to reply very quickly.
3 παιδείαν ἐντροπῆς μου ἀκούσομαι καὶ πνεῦμα ἐκ τῆς συνέσεως ἀποκρίνεταί μοι
By saying these things you have insulted me, but I know how (OR, because I understand very much) I can reply to you.
4 μὴ ταῦτα ἔγνως ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔτι ἀφ’ οὗ ἐτέθη ἄνθρωπος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς
“Do you not know that from long ago, ever since people were first put on the earth,
5 εὐφροσύνη γὰρ ἀσεβῶν πτῶμα ἐξαίσιον χαρμονὴ δὲ παρανόμων ἀπώλεια
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 ἐὰν ἀναβῇ εἰς οὐρανὸν αὐτοῦ τὰ δῶρα ἡ δὲ θυσία αὐτοῦ νεφῶν ἅψηται
[Even] though their reputation/pride reaches up to the sky and their fame goes up as high as the clouds,
7 ὅταν γὰρ δοκῇ ἤδη κατεστηρίχθαι τότε εἰς τέλος ἀπολεῖται οἱ δὲ ἰδόντες αὐτὸν ἐροῦσιν ποῦ ἐστιν
they will disappear forever, like their own dung, and those who knew them will ask, ‘(Where did they go/What happened to them)?’
8 ὥσπερ ἐνύπνιον ἐκπετασθὲν οὐ μὴ εὑρεθῇ ἔπτη δὲ ὥσπερ φάσμα νυκτερινόν
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 ὀφθαλμὸς παρέβλεψεν καὶ οὐ προσθήσει καὶ οὐκέτι προσνοήσει αὐτὸν ὁ τόπος αὐτοῦ
Those who saw those people previously will never see them again; even their families [MTY] will not see them any more.
10 τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ ὀλέσαισαν ἥττονες αἱ δὲ χεῖρες αὐτοῦ πυρσεύσαισαν ὀδύνας
Their children will be forced to return the valuable things that those children stole from poor people [DOU].
11 ὀστᾶ αὐτοῦ ἐνεπλήσθησαν νεότητος αὐτοῦ καὶ μετ’ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ χώματος κοιμηθήσεται
Previously their bodies were young and strong, but they will die and [their bodies will] be buried in the ground.
12 ἐὰν γλυκανθῇ ἐν στόματι αὐτοῦ κακία κρύψει αὐτὴν ὑπὸ τὴν γλῶσσαν αὐτοῦ
“Doing wicked things was like having sweet food in their mouths, and they wanted to continue to taste it.
13 οὐ φείσεται αὐτῆς καὶ οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψει αὐτὴν καὶ συνέξει αὐτὴν ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ λάρυγγος αὐτοῦ
And they did not want to stop doing those things,
14 καὶ οὐ μὴ δυνηθῇ βοηθῆσαι ἑαυτῷ χολὴ ἀσπίδος ἐν γαστρὶ αὐτοῦ
[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 πλοῦτος ἀδίκως συναγόμενος ἐξεμεσθήσεται ἐξ οἰκίας αὐτοῦ ἐξελκύσει αὐτὸν ἄγγελος
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 θυμὸν δὲ δρακόντων θηλάσειεν ἀνέλοι δὲ αὐτὸν γλῶσσα ὄφεως
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 μὴ ἴδοι ἄμελξιν νομάδων μηδὲ νομὰς μέλιτος καὶ βουτύρου
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 εἰς κενὰ καὶ μάταια ἐκοπίασεν πλοῦτον ἐξ οὗ οὐ γεύσεται ὥσπερ στρίφνος ἀμάσητος ἀκατάποτος
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 πολλῶν γὰρ ἀδυνάτων οἴκους ἔθλασεν δίαιταν δὲ ἥρπασεν καὶ οὐκ ἔστησεν
because they oppressed poor people and refused to help them, and they took other people’s houses [by cheating them].
20 οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ σωτηρία τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ αὐτοῦ οὐ σωθήσεται
“They were always greedy and never satisfied. They just keep dreaming about owning more and more things.
21 οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπόλειμμα τοῖς βρώμασιν αὐτοῦ διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀνθήσει αὐτοῦ τὰ ἀγαθά
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 ὅταν δὲ δοκῇ ἤδη πεπληρῶσθαι θλιβήσεται πᾶσα δὲ ἀνάγκη ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἐπελεύσεται
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 εἴ πως πληρώσαι γαστέρα αὐτοῦ ἐπαποστείλαι ἐπ’ αὐτὸν θυμὸν ὀργῆς νίψαι ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ὀδύνας
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 καὶ οὐ μὴ σωθῇ ἐκ χειρὸς σιδήρου τρώσαι αὐτὸν τόξον χάλκειον
They will try to escape from [being killed by] iron weapons, but arrows with bronze points will pierce them.
25 διεξέλθοι δὲ διὰ σώματος αὐτοῦ βέλος ἀστραπαὶ δὲ ἐν διαίταις αὐτοῦ περιπατήσαισαν ἐπ’ αὐτῷ φόβοι
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 πᾶν δὲ σκότος αὐτῷ ὑπομείναι κατέδεται αὐτὸν πῦρ ἄκαυστον κακώσαι δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐπήλυτος τὸν οἶκον
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 ἀνακαλύψαι δὲ αὐτοῦ ὁ οὐρανὸς τὰς ἀνομίας γῆ δὲ ἐπανασταίη αὐτῷ
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 ἑλκύσαι τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ ἀπώλεια εἰς τέλος ἡμέρα ὀργῆς ἐπέλθοι αὐτῷ
When God punishes [MTY] [people], all the possessions in the wicked people’s houses will be carried away by a flood.
29 αὕτη ἡ μερὶς ἀνθρώπου ἀσεβοῦς παρὰ κυρίου καὶ κτῆμα ὑπαρχόντων αὐτῷ παρὰ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου
That is what will happen to wicked people [like you]; that is what God has decided will happen to them.”
