Sofars andra tal

20 Då tog Sofar från Naama till orda och sade:

Mina tankar tvingar mig att svara,
        jag är så upprörd.
Kränkande tillrättavisning
        måste jag höra,
    men mitt förstånds ande
        ger mig svar.

Vet du inte att det alltid varit så,
    ända sedan människan
        sattes på jorden,
(A) att de gudlösas jubel är kortvarigt,
    att den gudlöses glädje
        varar ett ögonblick?
(B) Även om hans förhävelse
        stiger mot himlen
    och hans huvud når till molnen,
så förgås han dock för alltid
        som sin egen träck.
    De som såg honom ska fråga:
        ”Var finns han?”
(C) Likt en dröm flyger han bort
        och ingen finner honom,
    han jagas i väg
        som en syn om natten.
(D) Ögat som såg honom
        ser honom aldrig mer,
    hans plats får inte återse honom.
10 (E) Hans barn måste gottgöra de fattiga,
    hans händer återlämna
        hans rikedom.
11 Hans ben var fulla
        av ungdomskraft,
    men de ska ligga i stoftet
        med honom.

12 Även om ondskan är söt i hans mun
    och han gömmer den
        under tungan,
13 även om han är rädd om den
        och inte vill förlora den
    utan förvarar den i sin mun,
14 så förvandlas hans föda i hans inre
    och blir till ormgift
        inom honom.
15 Den rikedom han slukat
        måste han kräkas upp,
    Gud driver ut den ur hans buk.
16 Ormgift ska han suga i sig,
    giftormens tunga ska döda honom.
17 Inga bäckar får han se,
    inget flöde av honung
        och gräddmjölk.
18 (F) Han måste återlämna
        vad han tjänat,
    han får inte njuta av det
        eller glädjas åt den rikedom
            han vunnit,
19 (G) för han slog och övergav de ringa,
    han rövade åt sig hus
        som han inte hade byggt.

20 Han känner ingen ro i sitt inre,
    han kan inte rädda sig
        genom sina ägodelar.
21 Inget kom undan hans glupskhet,
    därför ska hans framgång
        inte bestå.
22 Mitt i sitt överflöd
        ska han drabbas av nöd,
    lidande av alla slag
        ska möta honom.
23 (H) När han fyller sin buk
    ska Gud sända sin vredes glöd
        över honom,
    och den ska träffa honom som regn.
24 (I) Flyr han för vapen av järn
    ska kopparbågens pilar
        genomborra honom.
25 Drar han ut pilen från sin rygg
    och den blanka udden
        ur sin galla,
    då drabbar honom dödsångest.
26 (J) Djupt mörker väntar
        på hans ägodelar.
    En eld som ingen blåser på
        ska förtära honom,
    den ska ödelägga
        det som finns kvar i hans tält.
27 Himlarna visar hans skuld
    och jorden reser sig mot honom.
28 Allt i hans hus drivs bort
    som forsande vatten
        på vredens dag.
29 (K) Det är vad den gudlösa människan
        får av Gud,
    den lott Gud har bestämt.

20 Tzofar the Na‘amati replied,

“My thoughts are pressing me to answer;
I feel such an urge to speak!
I have heard reproof that outrages me,
but a spirit past my understanding gives me a reply.

“Don’t you know that ever since time began,
ever since humans were placed on earth,
that the triumph of the wicked is always short-lived,
and the joy of the ungodly is gone in a moment?
His pride may mount to the heavens,
his head may touch the clouds;
but he will vanish completely, like his own dung —
those who used to see him will ask, ‘Where is he?’
Like a dream he flies off and is not found again;
like a vision in the night he is chased away.
The eye which once saw him will see him no more,
his place will not behold him again.
10 His children will have to pay back the poor;
his hands will restore their wealth.
11 His bones may be filled with [the vigor of] his youth,
but it will join him lying in the dust.

12 “Wickedness may taste sweet in his mouth,
he may savor and roll it around on his tongue,
13 he may linger over it and not let it go
but keep it there in his mouth —
14 yet in his stomach his food goes bad,
it works inside him like snake venom;
15 the wealth he swallows he vomits back up;
God makes him disgorge it.
16 He sucks the poison of asps,
the viper’s fangs will kill him.
17 He will not enjoy the rivers,
the streams flowing with honey and cream.
18 He will have to give back what he toiled for;
he won’t get to swallow it down —
to the degree that he acquired wealth,
he won’t get to enjoy it.

19 “For he crushed and abandoned the poor,
seizing houses he did not build,
20 because his appetite would not let him rest,
in his greed he let nothing escape;
21 nothing is left that he did not devour;
therefore his well-being will not last.
22 With all needs satisfied, he will be in distress;
the full force of misery will come over him.

23 “This is what will fill his belly! —
[God] will lay on him all his burning anger
and make it rain over him, into his insides.
24 If he flees from the weapon of iron,
the bow of bronze will pierce him through —
25 he pulls the arrow out of his back,
the shining tip comes out from his innards;
terrors come upon him.

26 “Total darkness is laid up for his treasures,
a fire fanned by no one will consume him,
and calamity awaits what is left in his tent.
27 The heavens will reveal his guilt,
and the earth will rise up against him.
28 The income of his household will be carried off;
his goods will flow away on the day of his wrath.
29 This is God’s reward for the wicked,
the heritage God decrees for him.”

Zophar’s Second Response to Job

20 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

“I must reply
    because I am greatly disturbed.
I’ve had to endure your insults,
    but now my spirit prompts me to reply.

“Don’t you realize that from the beginning of time,
    ever since people were first placed on the earth,
the triumph of the wicked has been short lived
    and the joy of the godless has been only temporary?
Though the pride of the godless reaches to the heavens
    and their heads touch the clouds,
yet they will vanish forever,
    thrown away like their own dung.
Those who knew them will ask,
    ‘Where are they?’
They will fade like a dream and not be found.
    They will vanish like a vision in the night.
Those who once saw them will see them no more.
    Their families will never see them again.
10 Their children will beg from the poor,
    for they must give back their stolen riches.
11 Though they are young,
    their bones will lie in the dust.

12 “They enjoyed the sweet taste of wickedness,
    letting it melt under their tongue.
13 They savored it,
    holding it long in their mouths.
14 But suddenly the food in their bellies turns sour,
    a poisonous venom in their stomach.
15 They will vomit the wealth they swallowed.
    God won’t let them keep it down.
16 They will suck the poison of cobras.
    The viper will kill them.
17 They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil
    or rivers of milk and honey.
18 They will give back everything they worked for.
    Their wealth will bring them no joy.
19 For they oppressed the poor and left them destitute.
    They foreclosed on their homes.
20 They were always greedy and never satisfied.
    Nothing remains of all the things they dreamed about.
21 Nothing is left after they finish gorging themselves.
    Therefore, their prosperity will not endure.

22 “In the midst of plenty, they will run into trouble
    and be overcome by misery.
23 May God give them a bellyful of trouble.
    May God rain down his anger upon them.
24 When they try to escape an iron weapon,
    a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce them.
25 The arrow is pulled from their back,
    and the arrowhead glistens with blood.[a]
The terrors of death are upon them.
26     Their treasures will be thrown into deepest darkness.
A wildfire will devour their goods,
    consuming all they have left.
27 The heavens will reveal their guilt,
    and the earth will testify against them.
28 A flood will sweep away their house.
    God’s anger will descend on them in torrents.
29 This is the reward that God gives the wicked.
    It is the inheritance decreed by God.”

Footnotes

  1. 20:25 Hebrew with gall.