Job 20
1 Respondens autem Sophar Naamathites, dixit:
Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said,
2 Idcirco cogitationes meæ variæ succedunt sibi, et mens in diversa rapitur.
For this cause my thoughts are troubling me and driving me on.
3 Doctrinam, qua me arguis, audiam, et spiritus intelligentiæ meæ respondebit mihi.
I have to give ear to arguments which put me to shame, and your answers to me are wind without wisdom.
4 Hoc scio a principio, ex quo positus est homo super terram,
Have you knowledge of this from early times, when man was placed on the earth,
5 Quod laus impiorum brevis sit, et gaudium hypocritæ ad instar puncti.
That the pride of the sinner is short, and the joy of the evil-doer but for a minute?
6 Si ascenderit usque ad cælum superbia eius, et caput eius nubes tetigerit:
Though he is lifted up to the heavens, and his head goes up to the clouds;
7 Quasi sterquilinium in fine perdetur: et qui eum viderant, dicent: Ubi est?
Like the waste from his body he comes to an end for ever: those who have seen him say, Where is he?
8 Velut somnium avolans non invenietur, transiet sicut visio nocturna.
He is gone like a dream, and is not seen again; he goes in flight like a vision of the night.
9 Oculus, qui eum viderat, non videbit, neque ultra intuebitur eum locus suus.
The eye which saw him sees him no longer; and his place has no more knowledge of him.
10 Filii eius atterentur egestate, et manus illius reddent ei dolorem suum.
His children are hoping that the poor will be kind to them, and his hands give back his wealth.
11 Ossa eius implebuntur vitiis adolescentiæ eius, et cum eo in pulvere dormient.
His bones are full of young strength, but it will go down with him into the dust.
12 Cum enim dulce fuerit in ore eius malum, abscondet illud sub lingua sua.
Though evil-doing is sweet in his mouth, and he keeps it secretly under his tongue;
13 Parcet illi, et non derelinquet illud, et celabit in gutture suo.
Though he takes care of it, and does not let it go, but keeps it still in his mouth;
14 Panis eius in utero illius vertetur in fel aspidum intrinsecus.
His food becomes bitter in his stomach; the poison of snakes is inside him.
15 Divitias, quas devoravit, evomet, et de ventre illius extrahet eas Deus.
He takes down wealth as food, and sends it up again; it is forced out of his stomach by God.
16 Caput aspidum suget, et occidet eum lingua viperæ.
He takes the poison of snakes into his mouth, the tongue of the snake is the cause of his death.
17 (Non videat rivulos fluminis, torrentes mellis, et butyri.)
Let him not see the rivers of oil, the streams of honey and milk.
18 Luet quæ fecit omnia, nec tamen consumetur: iuxta multitudinem adinventionum suarum, sic et sustinebit.
He is forced to give back the fruit of his work, and may not take it for food; he has no joy in the profit of his trading.
19 Quoniam confringens nudavit pauperes: domum rapuit, et non ædificavit eam.
Because he has been cruel to the poor, turning away from them in their trouble; because he has taken a house by force which he did not put up;
20 Nec est satiatus venter eius: et cum habuerit quæ concupierat, possidere non poterit.
There is no peace for him in his wealth, and no salvation for him in those things in which he took delight.
21 Non remansit de cibo eius, et propterea nihil permanebit de bonis eius.
He had never enough for his desire; for this cause his well-being will quickly come to an end.
22 Cum satiatus fuerit, arctabitur, æstuabit, et omnis dolor irruet super eum.
Even when his wealth is great, he is full of care, for the hand of everyone who is in trouble is turned against him.
23 Utinam impleatur venter eius, ut emittat in eum iram furoris sui, et pluat super illum bellum suum.
God gives him his desire, and sends the heat of his wrath on him, making it come down on him like rain.
24 Fugiet arma ferrea, et irruet in arcum æreum.
He may go in flight from the iron spear, but the arrow from the bow of brass will go through him;
25 Eductus, et egrediens de vagina sua, et fulgurans in amaritudine sua: vadent, et venient super eum horribiles.
He is pulling it out, and it comes out of his back; and its shining point comes out of his side; he is overcome by fears.
26 Omnes tenebræ absconditæ sunt in occultis eius: devorabit eum ignis, qui non succenditur, affligetur relictus in tabernaculo suo.
All his wealth is stored up for the dark: a fire not made by man sends destruction on him, and on everything in his tent.
27 Revelabunt cæli iniquitatem eius, et terra consurget adversus eum.
The heavens make clear his sin, and the earth gives witness against him.
28 Apertum erit germen domus illius, detrahetur in die furoris Dei.
The produce of his house is taken away into another country, like things given into the hands of others in the day of wrath.
29 Hæc est pars hominis impii a Deo, et hereditas verborum eius a Domino.
This is the reward of the evil man, and the heritage given to him by God.
