Job 20
Christian Standard Bible
Zophar Speaks
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite(A) replied:
2 This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer,
because I am upset![a]
3 I have heard a rebuke that insults me,
and my understanding[b] makes me reply.(B)
4 Don’t you know that ever since antiquity,
from the time a human was placed on earth,
5 the joy of the wicked has been brief
and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?(C)
6 Though his arrogance reaches heaven,
and his head touches the clouds,(D)
7 he will vanish forever like his own dung.
Those who know[c] him will ask, “Where is he?” (E)
8 He will fly away like a dream and never be found;
he will be chased away like a vision in the night.(F)
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more,(G)
and his household will no longer see him.(H)
10 His children will beg from[d] the poor,
for his own hands must give back his wealth.
11 His frame may be full of youthful vigor,
but it will lie down with him in dust.(I)
12 Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth
and he conceals it under his tongue,
13 though he cherishes it and will not let it go
but keeps it in his mouth,(J)
14 yet the food in his stomach turns
into cobras’ venom inside him.
15 He swallows wealth but must vomit it up;
God will force it from his stomach.
16 He will suck the poison of cobras;
a viper’s fangs[e] will kill him.(K)
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and curds.(L)
18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;
he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.
19 For he oppressed and abandoned the poor;
he seized a house he did not build.(M)
20 Because his appetite is never satisfied,[f]
he does not let anything he desires escape.
21 Nothing is left for him to consume;(N)
therefore, his prosperity will not last.
22 At the height of his success[g] distress will come to him;(O)
the full weight of misery[h] will crush him.
23 When he fills his stomach,
God will send his burning anger against him,
raining(P) it down on him while he is eating.[i]
24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him.
25 He pulls it out of his back,
the flashing tip out of his liver.[j]
Terrors come over him.(Q)
26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
A fire unfanned by human hands will consume(R) him;
it will feed on what is left in his tent.
27 The heavens will expose his iniquity,(S)
and the earth will rise up against him.(T)
28 The possessions in his house will be removed,
flowing away on the day of God’s anger.
29 This is the wicked person’s lot(U) from God,
the inheritance God ordained for him.
Footnotes
- 20:2 Lit because of my feeling within me
- 20:3 Lit and a spirit from my understanding
- 20:7 Lit have seen
- 20:10 Or children must compensate
- 20:16 Lit tongue
- 20:20 Lit Because he does not know ease in his stomach
- 20:22 Lit In the fullness of his excess
- 20:22 Some Hb mss, LXX, Vg; other Hb mss read the hand of everyone in misery
- 20:23 Text emended; MT reads him, against his flesh
- 20:25 Or gallbladder
Job 20
La Bible du Semeur
Deuxième discours de Tsophar
Le triomphe des méchants ne dure pas
20 Tsophar de Naama prit la parole et dit :
2 A présent, mes pensées ╵me pressent de répondre,
et mon agitation ╵ne peut se contenir.
3 J’entends des remontrances ╵qui me sont une injure.
Mais mon esprit, ╵avec intelligence, ╵me donne la réponse.
4 Ne le sais-tu donc pas : ╵depuis toujours,
depuis que l’homme ╵a été placé sur la terre,
5 le triomphe des gens méchants ╵est de courte durée,
et la joie de l’impie ╵ne dure qu’un instant.
6 Et quand bien même ╵il grandirait jusques au ciel,
quand de la tête ╵il toucherait les nues,
7 il périra à tout jamais ╵tout comme son ordure[a].
Et ceux qui le voyaient ╵diront : « Où donc est-il ? »
8 Comme un songe, il s’évanouit, ╵on ne le trouve plus.
Comme un rêve nocturne, ╵il se dissipe.
9 L’œil qui le contemplait ╵ne pourra plus le voir,
l’endroit qu’il habitait ╵ne l’apercevra plus.
10 Ses fils devront indemniser ╵ceux qu’il a appauvris[b]
et, de ses propres mains, ╵il restituera sa fortune.
11 Ses os étaient remplis ╵d’une ardeur juvénile –
qui se couchera avec lui ╵dans la poussière.
12 Si la méchanceté ╵est si douce à sa bouche,
et s’il l’abrite sous sa langue,
13 s’il la savoure ╵sans jamais la lâcher,
s’il la retient encore ╵sous son palais,
14 cet aliment se corrompra ╵en ses entrailles
et deviendra en lui ╵comme un venin d’aspic.
15 Il a beau engloutir une fortune, ╵il devra la vomir :
Dieu la lui fera rendre.
16 Il a sucé ╵un venin de serpent,
il sera mis à mort ╵par la langue de la vipère.
17 Non, il ne verra plus ╵couler à flots
des fleuves, des torrents ╵de miel et de laitage ;
18 il devra rendre ╵le fruit de son labeur, ╵et il ne l’avalera pas.
Tout ce qu’il s’est acquis ╵par ses affaires, ╵il n’en jouira pas.
19 Puisqu’il a écrasé, ╵abandonné les pauvres,
et pillé des maisons ╵qu’il n’avait pas bâties,
20 puisque son appétit ╵s’est montré insatiable,
il ne sauvera pas ╵ce qu’il a de plus cher.
21 Personne n’échappait ╵à sa voracité,
c’est pourquoi son bonheur ╵ne subsistera pas.
22 Au sein de l’abondance, ╵la détresse le frappera.
Tous les coups du malheur ╵viendront fondre sur lui.
23 Quand il sera en train ╵de se remplir le ventre,
Dieu enverra sur lui ╵l’ardeur de sa colère,
elle pleuvra sur lui, ╵ce sera son repas.
24 S’il échappe aux armes de fer,
un arc de bronze ╵viendra le transpercer[c] ;
25 s’il arrache la flèche ╵et la sort de son corps,
s’il retire la pointe ╵qui a percé son foie,
les terreurs l’atteindront.
26 L’obscurité totale ╵enveloppera ses trésors[d],
un feu que nul n’attise ╵viendra le dévorer,
et consumera tout ╵ce qui reste dans sa demeure.
27 Le ciel dévoilera sa faute
et, contre lui, la terre ╵se dressera.
28 Au jour de la Colère,
tous les biens qu’il a amassés ╵dans sa maison ╵seront balayés, emportés.
29 Tel est le sort que Dieu destine ╵à ceux qui font le mal, ╵voilà ce qu’il récoltera.
C’est ce que Dieu ╵a résolu pour lui[e].
Footnotes
- 20.7 L’ancienne version grecque a : sa grandeur, ce qui suppose une différence d’une consonne par rapport au texte hébreu traditionnel.
- 20.10 Autre traduction : ses fils seront assaillis par les pauvres.
- 20.24 Arc de bois renforcé par du bronze qui envoyait les flèches avec plus de force que les autres. La même pensée se retrouve en Es 24.18 ; Am 5.19.
- 20.26 Autre traduction : enveloppera ses cachettes.
- 20.29 voilà ce qu’il récoltera… pour lui: autre traduction : c’est là ce que Dieu lui fera récolter pour ses propos.
Job 20
King James Version
20 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.
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