Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me,
{Or, And by reason of this my haste is within me}Even by reason of my haste that is in me.
I have heard the reproof which putteth me to shame;
{Or, But out of my understanding my spirit answereth me}And the spirit of my understanding answereth me.
Knowest thou not this of old time,
Since man was placed upon earth,
That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the godless but for a moment?
Though his height mount up to the heavens,
And his head reach unto the clouds;
Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung:
They that have seen him shall say, Where is he?
He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found:
Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
The eye which saw him shall see him no more;
Neither shall his place any more behold him.
{Or, as otherwise read, The poor shall oppress his children}His children shall seek the favor of the poor,
And his hands shall give back his wealth.
His bones are full of his youth,
But it shall lie down with him in the dust.
Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,
Though he hide it under his tongue,
Though he spare it, and will not let it go,
But keep it still within his mouth;
Yet his food in his bowels is turned,
It is the gall of asps within him.
He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again;
God will cast them out of his belly.
He shall suck the poison of asps:
The viper's tongue shall slay him.
He shall not look upon the rivers,
The flowing streams of honey and butter.
That which he labored for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down;
According to the substance {Hebrew: of his exchange.}that he hath gotten, he shall not rejoice.
For he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor;
He hath violently taken away a house, {Or, which he builded not}and he shall not build it up.
Because he knew no quietness {Or, in his greed Hebrew: in his belly.}within him,
He shall not save aught of that wherein he delighteth.
There was nothing left that he devoured not;
Therefore his prosperity shall not endure.
In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits:
The hand of every one that is in misery shall come upon him.
{Or, Let it be for the filling of his belly that God shall cast &c.}When he is about to fill his belly,
God will cast the fierceness of his wrath upon him,
And will rain it upon him {Or, as his food}while he is eating.
He shall flee from the iron weapon,
And the bow of brass shall strike him through.
He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his body;
Yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall:
Terrors are upon him.
All darkness is laid up for his treasures:
A fire not blown by man shall devour him;
{Or, It shall go ill with him that is left}It shall consume that which is left in his tent.
The heavens shall reveal his iniquity,
And the earth shall rise up against him.
The increase of his house shall depart;
His goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
This is the portion of a wicked man from God,
And the heritage appointed unto him by God.
Querverweise zu Hiob 20,19 Hiob 20,19
Behold, I know your thoughts,And the devices wherewith ye would wrong me.
The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway;
{Or, It shall dwell in his tent, that it be no more his (or, because it is none of his)}There shall dwell in his tent that which is none of his:Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.
For ye say, Where is the house of the prince?And where is the tent wherein the wicked dwelt?
To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,
There are that remove the landmarks;They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
For thou hast taken pledges of thy brother for nought,And stripped the naked of their clothing.
And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, Hast thou killed and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
There are that remove the landmarks;They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
They drive away the ass of the fatherless;They take the widow's ox for a pledge.
They turn the needy out of the way:The {Or, meek}poor of the earth all hide themselves.
Behold, as wild asses in the desertThey go forth to their work, seeking diligently for {Hebrew: prey.}food;The wilderness yieldeth them bread for their children.
They cut {Or, his}their provender in the field;And they glean the vintage of the wicked.
They lie all night naked without clothing,And have no covering in the cold.
They are wet with the showers of the mountains,And embrace the rock for want of a shelter.
There are that pluck the fatherless from the breast,And {Or, take in pledge that which is on the poor}take a pledge of the poor;
So that they go about naked without clothing,And being hungry they carry the sheaves.
They make oil within the walls of these men;They tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.
From out of the {Hebrew: city of men.}populous city men groan,And the soul of the wounded crieth out:Yet God regardeth not the folly.
For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah {Hebrew: the plant of his delight.}his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, {Or, shedding of blood}oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry.
If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant,When they contended with me;
What then shall I do when God riseth up?And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
Did not he that made me in the womb make him?And did not one fashion us in the womb?
If I have withheld {Or, aught that the poor desired}the poor from their desire,Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
Or have eaten my morsel alone,And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof
(Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,And her have I guided from my mother's womb);
If I have seen any perish for want of clothing,Or that the needy had no covering;
If his loins have not blessed me,And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,Because I saw my help in the gate:
Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade,And mine arm be broken from the bone.
Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no room, and ye be made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!
If my land crieth out against me,And the furrows thereof weep together;
And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
If I have eaten the {Hebrew: strength.}fruits thereof without money,Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
The women of my people ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their young children ye take away my glory for ever.
By reason of the multitude of oppressions they cry out;They cry for help by reason of the arm of the mighty.
Here I am: witness against me before Jehovah, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a {Or, bribe}ransom {Or, that I should hide mine eyes at him}to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand.
To judge the fatherless and the oppressed,That man who is of the earth may be terrible no more.
Because of the oppression of the poor, because of the sighing of the needy,Now will I arise, saith Jehovah;I will set him in the safety he panteth for.
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker;But he that hath mercy on the needy honoreth him.
Rob not the poor, {Or, for}because he is poor;Neither {Or, crush}oppress the afflicted in the gate:
For Jehovah will plead their cause,And despoil of life those that despoil them.
Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and, behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.
If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in {Or, the state}a province, marvel not at the matter: for one higher than the high regardeth; and there are higher than they.
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully.
Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink.
The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that they shall take you away with hooks, and your residue with fish-hooks.
And ye shall go out at the breaches, every one straight before her; {The text is obscure.}and ye shall cast yourselves into Harmon, saith Jehovah.
But ye have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the judgment-seats?
For judgment is without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment.
Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.