20:1 Respondens autem Sophar Naamathites, dixit :
20:1 Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said:
20:2 Idcirco cogitationes meæ variæ succedunt sibi, et mens in diversa rapitur.
20:2 Therefore various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind is hurried away to different things.
20:3 Doctrinam qua me arguis audiam, et spiritus intelligentiæ meæ respondebit mihi.
20:3 The doctrine with which thou reprovest me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding shall answer for me.
20:4 Hoc scio a principio, ex quo positus est homo super terram,
20:4 This I know from the beginning, since man was placed upon the earth,
20:5 quod laus impiorum brevis sit, et gaudium hypocritæ ad instar puncti.
20:5 That the praise of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment.
20:6 Si ascenderit usque ad cælum superbia ejus, et caput ejus nubes tetigerit,
20:6 If his pride mount up even to heaven, and his head touch the clouds:
20:7 quasi sterquilinium in fine perdetur, et qui eum viderant, dicent : Ubi est ?
20:7 In the end he shall be destroyed like a dunghill, and they that had seen him, shall say: Where is he?
20:8 Velut somnium avolans non invenietur : transiet sicut visio nocturna.
20:8 As a dream that fleeth away he shall not be found, he shall pass as a vision of the night:
20:9 Oculus qui eum viderat non videbit, neque ultra intuebitur eum locus suus.
20:9 The eyes that had seen him, shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more behold him.
20:10 Filii ejus atterentur egestate, et manus illius reddent ei dolorem suum.
20:10 His children shall be oppressed with want, and his hands shall render to him his sorrow.
20:11 Ossa ejus implebuntur vitiis adolescentiæ ejus, et cum eo in pulvere dormient.
20:11 His bones shall be filled with the vices of his youth, and they shall sleep with him in the dust.
20:12 Cum enim dulce fuerit in ore ejus malum, abscondet illud sub lingua sua.
20:12 For when evil shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue.
20:13 Parcet illi, et non derelinquet illud, et celabit in gutture suo.
20:13 He will spare it, and not leave it, and will hide it in his throat.
20:14 Panis ejus in utero illius vertetur in fel aspidum intrinsecus.
20:14 His bread in his belly shall be turned into the gall of asps within him,
20:15 Divitias quas devoravit evomet, et de ventre illius extrahet eas Deus.
20:15 The riches which he hath swallowed, he shall vomit up, and God shall draw them out of his belly.
20:16 Caput aspidum suget, et occidet eum lingua viperæ.
20:16 He shall suck the head of asps, and the viper's tongue shall kill him.
20:17 (Non videat rivulos fluminis, torrentes mellis et butyri.)
20:17 Let him not see the streams of the river, the brooks of honey and of butter.
20:18 Luet quæ fecit omnia, nec tamen consumetur : juxta multitudinem adinventionum suarum, sic et sustinebit.
20:18 He shall be punished for all that he did, and yet shall not be consumed: according to the multitude of his devices so also shall he suffer.
20:19 Quoniam confringens nudavit pauperes : domum rapuit, et non ædificavit eam.
20:19 Because he broke in and stripped the poor: he hath violently taken away a house which he did not build.
20:20 Nec est satiatus venter ejus : et cum habuerit quæ concupierat, possidere non poterit.
20:20 And yet his belly was not filled: and when he hath the things he coveted, he shall not be able to possess them.
20:21 Non remansit de cibo ejus, et propterea nihil permanebit de bonis ejus.
20:21 There was nothing left of his meat, and therefore nothing shall continue of his goods:
20:22 Cum satiatus fuerit, arctabitur : æstuabit, et omnis dolor irruet super eum.
20:22 When he shall be filled, he shall be straitened, he shall burn, and every sorrow shall fall upon him.
20:23 Utinam impleatur venter ejus, ut emittat in eum iram furoris sui, et pluat super illum bellum suum.
20:23 May his belly be filled, that God may send forth the wrath of his indignation upon him, and rain down his war upon him.
20:24 Fugiet arma ferrea, et irruet in arcum æreum.
20:24 He shall flee from weapons of iron, and shall fall upon a bow of brass.
20:25 Eductus, et egrediens de vagina sua, et fulgurans in amaritudine sua : vadent et venient super eum horribiles.
20:25 The sword is drawn out, and cometh forth from its scabbard, and glittereth in his bitterness: the terrible ones shall go and come upon him.
20:26 Omnes tenebræ absconditæ sunt in occultis ejus ; devorabit eum ignis qui non succenditur : affligetur relictus in tabernaculo suo.
20:26 All darkness is hid in his secret places: a fire that is not kindled shall devour him, he shall be afflicted when left in his tabernacle.
20:27 Revelabunt cæli iniquitatem ejus, et terra consurget adversus eum.
20:27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him.
20:28 Apertum erit germen domus illius : detrahetur in die furoris Dei.
20:28 The offspring of his house shall be exposed, he shall be pulled down in the day of God's wrath.
20:29 Hæc est pars hominis impii a Deo, et hæreditas verborum ejus a Domino.
20:29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his doings from the Lord.