1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, 2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste. 3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer. 4 Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth, 5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? 6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; 7 Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he? 8 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 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.
10 His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods. 11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust. 12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; 13 Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth: 14 Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him. 15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. 16 He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him. 17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. 18 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 . 19 Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not; 20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired. 21 There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods. 22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.
23 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 He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through. 25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him. 26 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. 27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him. 28 The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath. 29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.
1 respondens autem Sophar Naamathites dixit
2 idcirco cogitationes meae variae succedunt sibi
et mens in diversa rapitur
3 doctrinam qua me arguis audiam
et spiritus intellegentiae meae respondebit mihi
4 hoc scio a principio ex quo positus est homo super terram
5 quod laus impiorum brevis sit
et gaudium hypocritae ad instar puncti
6 si ascenderit usque ad caelum superbia eius
et caput eius nubes tetigerit
7 quasi sterquilinium in fine perdetur
et qui eum viderant dicent ubi est
8 velut somnium avolans non invenietur
transiet sicut visio nocturna
9 oculus qui eum viderat non videbit
neque ultra intuebitur eum locus suus
10 filii eius adterentur egestate
et manus illius reddent ei dolorem suum
11 ossa eius implebuntur vitiis adulescentiae eius
et cum eo in pulverem dormient
12 cum enim dulce fuerit in ore eius malum
abscondet illud sub lingua sua
13 parcet illi et non derelinquet illud
et celabit in gutture suo
14 panis eius in utero illius vertetur in fel aspidum
intrinsecus
15 divitias quas devoravit evomet et de ventre illius extrahet eas Deus
16 caput aspidum suget
occidet eum lingua viperae
17 non videat rivulos fluminis torrentes mellis et butyri
18 luet quae fecit omnia nec tamen consumetur
iuxta multitudinem adinventionum suarum sic et sustinebit
19 quoniam confringens nudavit pauperes
domum rapuit et non aedificavit eam
20 nec est satiatus venter eius
et cum habuerit quae cupierat possidere non poterit
21 non remansit de cibo eius
et propterea nihil permanebit de bonis eius
22 cum satiatus fuerit artabitur
aestuabit et omnis dolor inruet in eum
23 utinam impleatur venter eius ut emittat in eum iram furoris sui
et pluat super illum bellum suum
24 fugiet arma ferrea et inruet in arcum aereum
25 eductus et egrediens de vagina sua et fulgurans in amaritudine sua
vadent et venient super eum horribiles
26 omnes tenebrae absconditae sunt in occultis eius
devorabit eum ignis qui non succenditur
adfligetur relictus in tabernaculo suo
27 revelabunt caeli iniquitatem eius et terra consurget adversus eum
28 apertum erit germen domus illius detrahetur in die furoris Dei
29 haec est pars hominis impii a Deo
et hereditas verborum eius a Domino