1 E ntonces Zofar, el Naamatita respondió:

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

2 “ Por esto mis pensamientos me hacen responder, A causa de mi inquietud interior.

Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.

3 H e escuchado la reprensión que me insulta, Y el espíritu de mi entendimiento me hace responder.

I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.

4 ¿ Acaso sabes esto, que desde la antigüedad, Desde que el hombre fue puesto sobre la tierra,

Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,

5 E s breve el júbilo de los malvados, Y un instante dura la alegría del impío ?

That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

6 A unque su orgullo llegue a los cielos, Y su cabeza toque las nubes,

Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;

7 C omo su propio estiércol perece para siempre; Los que lo han visto dirán: ‘¿Dónde está ?’

Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?

8 H uye como un sueño, y no lo pueden encontrar, Y como visión nocturna es ahuyentado.

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 E l ojo que lo veía, ya no lo ve, Y su lugar no lo contempla más.

The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.

10 S us hijos favorecen a los pobres, Y sus manos devuelven sus riquezas.

His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.

11 S us huesos están llenos de vigor juvenil, Pero yacen con él en el polvo.

His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.

12 A unque el mal sea dulce en su boca, Y lo oculte bajo su lengua,

Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;

13 a unque lo desee y no lo deje ir, Sino que lo retenga en su paladar,

Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:

14 C on todo la comida en sus entrañas se transforma En veneno de cobras dentro de él.

Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.

15 T raga riquezas, Pero las vomitará; De su vientre se las hará echar Dios.

He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

16 C hupa veneno de cobras, Lengua de víbora lo mata.

He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him.

17 N o mira a los arroyos, A los ríos que fluyen miel y cuajada.

He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.

18 D evuelve lo que ha ganado, No lo puede tragar; En cuanto a las riquezas de su comercio, No las puede disfrutar.

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 P ues ha oprimido y abandonado a los pobres; Se ha apoderado de una casa que no construyó.

Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

20 P orque no conoció quietud en su interior, No retiene nada de lo que desea.

Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.

21 N ada le quedó por devorar, Por eso no dura su prosperidad.

There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.

22 E n la plenitud de su abundancia estará en estrechez; La mano de todo el que sufre vendrá contra él.

In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.

23 C uando llene su vientre, Dios enviará contra él el ardor de Su ira Y la hará llover sobre él mientras come.

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 T al vez huya del arma de hierro, Pero el arco de bronce lo atravesará.

He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.

25 L a flecha lo traspasa y sale por su espalda, Y la punta relumbrante por su hiel. Vienen sobre él terrores,

It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.

26 C ompletas tinieblas están reservadas para sus tesoros; Fuego no atizado lo devorará, Y consumirá al que quede en su tienda.

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 L os cielos revelarán su iniquidad, Y la tierra se levantará contra él.

The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.

28 L as riquezas de su casa se perderán; Serán arrasadas en el día de Su ira.

The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.

29 E sta es la porción de Dios para el hombre impío, Y la herencia decretada por Dios para él.”

This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.