Job 20
1 Respondens autem Sophar Naamathites, dixit:
Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
2 Idcirco cogitationes meæ variæ succedunt sibi, et mens in diversa rapitur.
Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.
3 Doctrinam, qua me arguis, audiam, et spiritus intelligentiæ meæ respondebit mihi.
I have heard the rebuke that reproaches me, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.
4 Hoc scio a principio, ex quo positus est homo super terram:
Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,
5 Quod laus impiorum brevis sit, et gaudium hypocritæ ad instar puncti.
That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
6 Si ascenderit usque ad cælum superbia eius, et caput eius nubes tetigerit:
Though his excellency shall mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds;
7 Quasi sterquilinium in fine perdetur: et qui eum viderant, dicent: Ubi est?
Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they who have seen him shall say, Where is he?
8 Velut somnium avolans non invenietur, transiet sicut visio nocturna.
He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
9 Oculus, qui eum viderat, non videbit, neque ultra intuebitur eum locus suus.
The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.
10 Filii eius atterentur egestate, et manus illius reddent ei dolorem suum.
His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.
11 Ossa eius implebuntur vitiis adolescentiæ eius, et cum eo in pulvere dormient.
His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.
12 Cum enim dulce fuerit in ore eius malum, abscondet illud sub lingua sua.
Though wickedness may be sweet in his mouth, though he may hide it under his tongue;
13 Parcet illi, et non derelinquet illud, et celabit in gutture suo.
Though he may spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:
14 Panis eius in utero illius vertetur in fel aspidum intrinsecus.
Yet his food in his body is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.
15 Divitias, quas devoravit, evomet, et de ventre illius extrahet eas Deus.
He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.
16 Caput aspidum suget, et occidet eum lingua viperæ.
He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him.
17 (Non videat rivulos fluminis, torrentes mellis, et butyri.)
He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
18 Luet quæ fecit omnia, nec tamen consumetur: iuxta multitudinem adinventionum suarum, sic et sustinebit.
That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice in it.
19 Quoniam confringens nudavit pauperes: domum rapuit, et non ædificavit eam.
Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he did not build;
20 Nec est satiatus venter eius: et cum habuerit quæ concupierat, possidere non poterit.
Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.
21 Non remansit de cibo eius, et propterea nihil permanebit de bonis eius.
There shall none of his food be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.
22 Cum satiatus fuerit, arctabitur, æstuabit, et omnis dolor irruet super eum.
In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.
23 Utinam impleatur venter eius, ut emittat in eum iram furoris sui, et pluat super illum bellum suum.
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.
24 Fugiet arma ferrea, et irruet in arcum æreum:
He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.
25 Eductus, et egrediens de vagina sua, et fulgurans in amaritudine sua: vadent, et venient super eum horribiles.
It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.
26 Omnes tenebræ absconditæ sunt in occultis eius: devorabit eum ignis, qui non succenditur, affligetur relictus in tabernaculo suo.
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 tent.
27 Revelabunt cæli iniquitatem eius, et terra consurget adversus eum.
The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.
28 Apertum erit germen domus illius, detrahetur in die furoris Dei.
The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
29 Hæc est pars hominis impii a Deo, et hereditas verborum eius a Domino.
This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by God.
