Sophar declares the shortness of the prosperity of the wicked: and their sudden downfall.

 1 Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said:
Respondens autem Sophar Naamathites, dixit :

 2 Therefore various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind is hurried away to different things.
Idcirco cogitationes meae variae succedunt sibi, et mens in diversa rapitur.

 3 The doctrine with which thou reprovest me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding shall answer for me.
Doctrinam qua me arguis audiam, et spiritus intelligentiae meae respondebit mihi.

 4 This I know from the beginning, since man was placed upon the earth,
Hoc scio a principio, ex quo positus est homo super terram,

 5 That the praise of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment.
quod laus impiorum brevis sit, et gaudium hypocritae ad instar puncti.

 6 If his pride mount up even to heaven, and his head touch the clouds:
Si ascenderit usque ad caelum superbia ejus, et caput ejus nubes tetigerit,

 7 In the end he shall be destroyed like a dunghill, and they that has seen him shall say: Where is he?
quasi sterquilinium in fine perdetur, et qui eum viderant, dicent : Ubi est?

 8 As a dream that fleeth away he shall not be found, he shall pass as a vision of the night:
Velut somnium avolans non invenietur : transiet sicut visio nocturna.

 9 The eyes that had seen him, shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more behold him.
Oculus qui eum viderat non videbit, neque ultra intuebitur eum locus suus.

 10 His children shall be oppressed with want, and his hands shall render him his sorrow.
Filii ejus atterentur egestate, et manus illius reddent ei dolorem suum.

 11 His bones shall be filled with the vices of his youth, and they shall sleep with him in the dust.
Ossa ejus implebuntur vitiis adolescentiae ejus, et cum eo in pulvere dormient.

 12 For when evil shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue.
Cum enim dulce fuerit in ore ejus malum, abscondet illud sub lingua sua.

 13 He will spare it, and not leave it, and will hide it in his throat.
Parcet illi, et non derelinquet illud, et celabit in gutture suo.

 14 His bread in his belly shall be turned into the gall of asps within him.
Panis ejus in utero illius vertetur in fel aspidum intrinsecus.

 15 The riches which he hath swallowed; he shall vomit up, and God shall draw them out of his belly.
Divitias quas devoravit evomet, et de ventre illius extrahet eas Deus.

 16 He shall suck the head of asps, and the viper's tongue shall kill him.
Caput aspidum suget, et occidet eum lingua viperae.

 17 (Let him not see the streams of the river, the brooks of honey and of butter.)
( Non videat rivulos fluminis, torrentes mellis et butyri.)

 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.
Luet quae fecit omnia, nec tamen consumetur : juxta multitudinem adinventionum suarum, sic et sustinebit.

 19 Because he broke in and stripped the poor: he hath violently taken away a house which he did not build.
Quoniam confringens nudavit pauperes : domum rapuit, et non aedificavit eam.

 20 And yet his belly was not filled: and when he hath the things he coveted, he shall not be able to possess them.
Nec est satiatus venter ejus : et cum habuerit quae concupierat, possidere non poterit.

 21 There was nothing left of his meat, and therefore nothing shall continue of his goods:
Non remansit de cibo ejus : et propterea nihil permanebit de bonis ejus.

 22 When he shall be filled, he shall be straitened, he shall burn, and every sorrow shall fall upon him.
Cum satiatus fuerit, arctabitur : aestuabit, et omnis dolor irruet super eum.

 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.
Utinam impleatur venter ejus, ut emittat in eum iram furoris sui, et pluat super illum bellum suum!

 24 He shall flee from weapons of iron, and shall fall upon a bow of brass.
Fugiet arma ferrea, et irruet in arcum aereum.

 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.
Eductus, et egrediens de vagina sua, et fulgurans in amaritudine sua : vadent et venient super eum horribiles.

 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.
Omnes tenebrae absconditae sunt in occultis ejus : devorabit eum ignis qui non succenditur : affligetur relictus in tabernaculo suo.

 27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him.
Revelabunt caeli iniquitatem ejus, et terra consurget adversus eum.

 28 The offspring of his house shall be exposed, he shall be pulled down in the day of God's wrath.
Apertum erit germen domus illius : detrahetur in die furoris Dei.

 29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his doings from the Lord.
Haec est pars hominis impii a Deo, et haereditas verborum ejus a Domino.