Job, 20

1. Sofar de Naamat tomó la palabra y dijo:

1. Then Zophar the Na'amathite answered:

2. Por esto mis pensamientos a replicar me incitan: por la impaciencia que me urge.

2. "Therefore my thoughts answer me, because of my haste within me.

3. Una lección que me ultraja he escuchado, mas el soplo de mi inteligencia me incita a responder.

3. I hear censure which insults me, and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.

4. ¿No sabes tú que desde siempre, desde que el hombre en la tierra fue puesto,

4. Do you not know this from of old, since man was placed upon earth,

5. es breve la alegría del malvado, y de un instante el gozo del impío?

5. that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment?

6. Aunque su talla se alzara hasta los cielos y las nubes tocara su cabeza,

6. Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds,

7. como un fantasma desaparece para siempre, los que le veían dicen: «¿Dónde está?»

7. he will perish for ever like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, `Where is he?'

8. Se vuela como un sueño inaprensible, se le ahuyenta igual que a una visión nocturna.

8. He will fly away like a dream, and not be found; he will be chased away like a vision of the night.

9. El ojo que le observaba ya no le ve más, ni le divisa el lugar donde estaba.

9. The eye which saw him will see him no more, nor will his place any more behold him.

10. A los pobres tendrán que indemnizar sus hijos, sus niños habrán de devolver sus bienes.

10. His children will seek the favor of the poor, and his hands will give back his wealth.

11. Sus huesos rebosaban de vigor juvenil: mas ya con él postrado está en el polvo.

11. His bones are full of youthful vigor, but it will lie down with him in the dust.

12. Si el mal era dulce a su boca, si bajo su lengua lo albergaba,

12. "Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue,

13. si allí lo guardaba tenazmente y en medio del paladar lo retenía,

13. though he is loath to let it go, and holds it in his mouth,

14. su alimento en sus entrañas se corrompe, en su interior se le hace hiel de áspid.

14. yet his food is turned in his stomach; it is the gall of asps within him.

15. Vomita las riquezas que engulló, Dios se las arranca de su vientre.

15. He swallows down riches and vomits them up again; God casts them out of his belly.

16. Veneno de áspides chupaba: lengua de víbora le mata.

16. He will suck the poison of asps; the tongue of a viper will kill him.

17. Ya no verá los arroyos de aceite, los torrentes de miel y de cuajada.

17. He will not look upon the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds.

18. Devuelve su ganancia sin tragarla, no saborea el fruto de su negocio.

18. He will give back the fruit of his toil, and will not swallow it down; from the profit of his trading he will get no enjoyment.

19. Porque estrujó las chozas de los pobres, robó casas en vez de construirlas;

19. For he has crushed and abandoned the poor, he has seized a house which he did not build.

20. porque su vientre se mostró insaciable, sus tesoros no le salvarán;

20. "Because his greed knew no rest, he will not save anything in which he delights.

21. porque a su voracidad nada escapaba, por eso no dura su prosperidad.

21. There was nothing left after he had eaten; therefore his prosperity will not endure.

22. En plena abundancia la estrechez le sorprende, la desgracia, en tromba, cae sobre él.

22. In the fulness of his sufficiency he will be in straits; all the force of misery will come upon him.

23. En el momento de llenar su vientre, suelta Dios contra él el ardor de su cólera y lanza sobre su carne una lluvia de saetas.

23. To fill his belly to the full God will send his fierce anger into him, and rain it upon him as his food.

24. Si del arma de hierro logra huir, el arco de bronce le traspasa.

24. He will flee from an iron weapon; a bronze arrow will strike him through.

25. Sale una flecha por su espalda, una hoja fulgurante de su hígado. Los terrores se abalanzan sobre él,

25. It is drawn forth and comes out of his body, the glittering point comes out of his gall; terrors come upon him.

26. total tiniebla aguarda a sus tesoros. Un fuego que nadie atiza le devora, y consume lo que en su tienda aún queda,

26. Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures; a fire not blown upon will devour him; what is left in his tent will be consumed.

27. Los cielos ponen su culpa al descubierto, y la tierra se alza contra él.

27. The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.

28. La hacienda de su casa se derrama, como torrentes, en el día de la cólera.

28. The possessions of his house will be carried away, dragged off in the day of God's wrath.

29. Tal es la suerte que al malvado Dios reserva, la herencia de Dios para el maldito.

29. This is the wicked man's portion from God, the heritage decreed for him by God."