איוב 20
| ויען צפר הנעמתי ויאמר | 1 |
Then Zophar replied,
| לכן שעפי ישיבוני ובעבור חושי בי | 2 |
“I am very perturbed about what you have said, so I want to reply very quickly.
| מוסר כלמתי אשמע ורוח מבינתי יענני | 3 |
By saying these things you have insulted me, but I know how (OR, because I understand very much) I can reply to you.
| הזאת ידעת מני-עד מני שים אדם עלי-ארץ | 4 |
“Do you not know that from long ago, ever since people were first put on the earth,
| כי רננת רשעים מקרוב ושמחת חנף עדי-רגע | 5 |
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]?
| אם-יעלה לשמים שיאו וראשו לעב יגיע | 6 |
[Even] though their reputation/pride reaches up to the sky and their fame goes up as high as the clouds,
| כגללו לנצח יאבד ראיו יאמרו איו | 7 |
they will disappear forever, like their own dung, and those who knew them will ask, ‘(Where did they go/What happened to them)?’
| כחלום יעוף ולא ימצאהו וידד כחזיון לילה | 8 |
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.
| עין שזפתו ולא תוסיף ולא-עוד תשורנו מקומו | 9 |
Those who saw those people previously will never see them again; even their families [MTY] will not see them any more.
| בניו ירצו דלים וידיו תשבנה אונו | 10 |
Their children will be forced to return the valuable things that those children stole from poor people [DOU].
| עצמותיו מלאו עלומו ועמו על-עפר תשכב | 11 |
Previously their bodies were young and strong, but they will die and [their bodies will] be buried in the ground.
| אם-תמתיק בפיו רעה-- יכחידנה תחת לשנו | 12 |
“Doing wicked things was like having sweet food in their mouths, and they wanted to continue to taste it.
| יחמל עליה ולא יעזבנה וימנענה בתוך חכו | 13 |
And they did not want to stop doing those things,
| לחמו במעיו נהפך מרורת פתנים בקרבו | 14 |
[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.
| חיל בלע ויקאנו מבטנו ירשנו אל | 15 |
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.
| ראש-פתנים יינק תהרגהו לשון אפעה | 16 |
What wicked people do is [like] [MET] swallowing snake venom; it will kill them like [MET] the bite of a poisonous snake kills people.
| אל-ירא בפלגות-- נהרי נחלי דבש וחמאה | 17 |
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.
| משיב יגע ולא יבלע כחיל תמורתו ולא יעלס | 18 |
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,
| כי-רצץ עזב דלים בית גזל ולא יבנהו | 19 |
because they oppressed poor people and refused to help them, and they took other people’s houses [by cheating them].
| כי לא-ידע שלו בבטנו בחמודו לא ימלט | 20 |
“They were always greedy and never satisfied. They just keep dreaming about owning more and more things.
| אין-שריד לאכלו על-כן לא-יחיל טובו | 21 |
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.
| במלאות שפקו יצר לו כל-יד עמל תבאנו | 22 |
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).
| יהי למלא בטנו--ישלח-בו חרון אפו וימטר עלימו בלחומו | 23 |
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.
| יברח מנשק ברזל תחלפהו קשת נחושה | 24 |
They will try to escape from [being killed by] iron weapons, but arrows with bronze points will pierce them.
| שלף ויצא מגוה וברק ממררתו יהלך עליו אמים | 25 |
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.
| כל-חשך טמון לצפוניו תאכלהו אש לא-נפח ירע שריד באהלו | 26 |
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.
| יגלו שמים עונו וארץ מתקוממה לו | 27 |
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.
| יגל יבול ביתו נגרות ביום אפו | 28 |
When God punishes [MTY] [people], all the possessions in the wicked people’s houses will be carried away by a flood.
| זה חלק-אדם רשע--מאלהים ונחלת אמרו מאל | 29 |
That is what will happen to wicked people [like you]; that is what God has decided will happen to them.”
