Capítulo 20

1 - Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

2 - "My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed.

3 - I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply.

4 - "Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever since mankind Or [Adam] was placed on the earth,

5 - that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.

6 - Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds,

7 - he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'

8 - Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found, banished like a vision of the night.

9 - The eye that saw him will not see him again; his place will look on him no more.

10 - His children must make amends to the poor; his own hands must give back his wealth.

11 - The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie with him in the dust.

12 - "Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue,

13 - though he cannot bear to let it go and lets it linger in his mouth,

14 - yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him.

15 - He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up.

16 - He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him.

17 - He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

18 - What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.

19 - For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses he did not build.

20 - "Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his treasure.

21 - Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure.

22 - In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him.

23 - When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows on him.

24 - Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.

25 - He pulls it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over him;

26 - total darkness lies in wait for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.

27 - The heavens will expose his guilt; the earth will rise up against him.

28 - A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters Or [The possessions in his house will be carried off, / washed away] on the day of God's wrath.

29 - Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God."