1Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,
2“Therefore my thoughts answer me,
even by reason of my haste that is in me.
3I have heard the reproof which puts me to shame.
The spirit of my understanding answers me.
4Don’t you know this from old time,
since man was placed on earth,
5that the triumphing of the wicked is short,
the joy of the godless but for a moment?
6Though his height mount up to the heavens,
and his head reach to the clouds,
7yet he will perish forever like his own dung.
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8He will fly away as a dream, and will not be found.
Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
9The eye which saw him will see him no more,
neither will his place see him any more.
10His children will seek the favor of the poor.
His hands will give back his wealth.
11His bones are full of his youth,
but youth will lie down with him in the dust.
12“Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth,
though he hide it under his tongue,
13though he spare it, and will not let it go,
but keep it still within his mouth,
14yet his food in his bowels is turned.
It is cobra venom within him.
15He has swallowed down riches, and he will vomit them up again.
God will cast them out of his belly.
16He will suck cobra venom.
The viper’s tongue will kill him.
17He will not look at the rivers,
the flowing streams of honey and butter.
18He will restore that for which he labored, and will not swallow it down.
He will not rejoice according to the substance that he has gotten.
19For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor.
He has violently taken away a house, and he will not build it up.
20“Because he knew no quietness within him,
he will not save anything of that in which he delights.
21There was nothing left that he didn’t devour,
therefore his prosperity will not endure.
22In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress will overtake him.
The hand of everyone who is in misery will come on him.
23When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of His wrath on him.
It will rain on him while he is eating.
24He will flee from the iron weapon.
The bronze arrow will strike him through.
25He draws it out, and it comes out of his body.
Yes, the glittering point comes out of his liver.
Terrors are on him.
26All darkness is laid up for his treasures.
An unfanned fire will devour him.
It will consume that which is left in his tent.
27The heavens will reveal his iniquity.
The earth will rise up against him.
28The increase of his house will depart.
They will rush away in the day of His wrath.
29This is the portion of a wicked man from God,
the heritage appointed to him by God.”
1Respondens autem Sophar Naamathites, dixit: 2Idcirco cogitationes meæ variæ succedunt sibi, et mens in diversa rapitur. 3Doctrinam qua me arguis audiam, et spiritus intelligentiæ meæ respondebit mihi. 4Hoc scio a principio, ex quo positus est homo super terram, 5quod laus impiorum brevis sit, et gaudium hypocritæ ad instar puncti. 6Si ascenderit usque ad cælum superbia ejus, et caput ejus nubes tetigerit, 7quasi sterquilinium in fine perdetur, et qui eum viderant, dicent: Ubi est? 8Velut somnium avolans non invenietur: transiet sicut visio nocturna. 9Oculus qui eum viderat non videbit, neque ultra intuebitur eum locus suus. 10Filii ejus atterentur egestate, et manus illius reddent ei dolorem suum. 11Ossa ejus implebuntur vitiis adolescentiæ ejus, et cum eo in pulvere dormient. 12Cum enim dulce fuerit in ore ejus malum, abscondet illud sub lingua sua. 13Parcet illi, et non derelinquet illud, et celabit in gutture suo. 14Panis ejus in utero illius vertetur in fel aspidum intrinsecus. 15Divitias quas devoravit evomet, et de ventre illius extrahet eas Deus. 16Caput aspidum suget, et occidet eum lingua viperæ. 17(Non videat rivulos fluminis, torrentes mellis et butyri.) 18Luet quæ fecit omnia, nec tamen consumetur: juxta multitudinem adinventionum suarum, sic et sustinebit. 19Quoniam confringens nudavit pauperes: domum rapuit, et non ædificavit eam. 20Nec est satiatus venter ejus: et cum habuerit quæ concupierat, possidere non poterit. 21Non remansit de cibo ejus, et propterea nihil permanebit de bonis ejus. 22Cum satiatus fuerit, arctabitur: æstuabit, et omnis dolor irruet super eum. 23Utinam impleatur venter ejus, ut emittat in eum iram furoris sui, et pluat super illum bellum suum. 24Fugiet arma ferrea, et irruet in arcum æreum. 25Eductus, et egrediens de vagina sua, et fulgurans in amaritudine sua: vadent et venient super eum horribiles. 26Omnes tenebræ absconditæ sunt in occultis ejus; devorabit eum ignis qui non succenditur: affligetur relictus in tabernaculo suo. 27Revelabunt cæli iniquitatem ejus, et terra consurget adversus eum. 28Apertum erit germen domus illius: detrahetur in die furoris Dei. 29Hæc est pars hominis impii a Deo, et hæreditas verborum ejus a Domino.