Job 20

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

ויען צפר הנעמתי ויאמר׃

Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.

לכן שעפי ישיבוני ובעבור חושי בי׃

I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.

מוסר כלמתי אשמע ורוח מבינתי יענני׃

Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,

הזאת ידעת מני עד מני שים אדם עלי ארץ׃

That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

כי רננת רשעים מקרוב ושמחת חנף עדי רגע׃

Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;

אם יעלה לשמים שיאו וראשו לעב יגיע׃

Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?

כגללו לנצח יאבד ראיו יאמרו איו׃

He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.

כחלום יעוף ולא ימצאוהו וידד כחזיון לילה׃

The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.

עין שזפתו ולא תוסיף ולא עוד תשורנו מקומו׃

His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.

בניו ירצו דלים וידיו תשבנה אונו׃

His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.

עצמותיו מלאו עלומו ועמו על עפר תשכב׃

Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;

אם תמתיק בפיו רעה יכחידנה תחת לשונו׃

Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:

יחמל עליה ולא יעזבנה וימנענה בתוך חכו׃

Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.

לחמו במעיו נהפך מרורת פתנים בקרבו׃

He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

חיל בלע ויקאנו מבטנו יורשנו אל׃

He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him.

ראש פתנים יינק תהרגהו לשון אפעה׃

He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.

אל ירא בפלגות נהרי נחלי דבש וחמאה׃

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 therein.

משיב יגע ולא יבלע כחיל תמורתו ולא יעלס׃

Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

כי רצץ עזב דלים בית גזל ולא יבנהו׃

Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.

כי לא ידע שלו בבטנו בחמודו לא ימלט׃

There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.

אין שריד לאכלו על כן לא יחיל טובו׃

In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.

במלאות שפקו יצר לו כל יד עמל תבואנו׃

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.

יהי למלא בטנו ישלח בו חרון אפו וימטר עלימו בלחומו׃

He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.

יברח מנשק ברזל תחלפהו קשת נחושה׃

It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.

שלף ויצא מגוה וברק ממררתו יהלך עליו אמים׃

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 tabernacle.

כל חשך טמון לצפוניו תאכלהו אש לא נפח ירע שריד באהלו׃

The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.

יגלו שמים עונו וארץ מתקוממה לו׃

The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.

יגל יבול ביתו נגרות ביום אפו׃

This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.

זה חלק אדם רשע מאלהים ונחלת אמרו מאל׃