1 R espondió Zofar, el naamatita, y dijo:

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

2 « Por cierto mis pensamientos me hacen responder, y por eso me apresuro.

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

3 H e escuchado una reprensión afrentosa y mi inteligencia me inspira la respuesta.

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

4 ¿ No sabes que siempre fue así, que desde el tiempo en que el hombre fue puesto sobre la tierra,

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

5 l a alegría de los malos es breve y el gozo del impío sólo dura un momento?

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

6 A unque se enaltezca hasta el cielo 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 estiércol, perecerá para siempre; y los que lo hayan visto dirán: “¿Qué es de él?”

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

8 C omo un sueño volará y no será hallado; se disipará como una visión nocturna.

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, nunca más lo verá, ni su lugar lo conocerá más.

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

10 S us hijos solicitarán el favor de los pobres y sus manos devolverán lo que él robó.

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

11 S us huesos, llenos aún de su juventud, yacerán 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 S i el mal era dulce en su boca, si lo ocultaba debajo de su lengua,

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

13 s i lo saboreaba y no lo dejaba, sino que lo retenía y paladeaba,

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

14 s u comida se corromperá en sus entrañas y será veneno de áspides dentro de él.

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

15 D evoró riquezas, pero las vomitará; Dios las sacará de su vientre.

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

16 V eneno de áspides chupará; lo matará la lengua de la víbora.

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

17 N o verá más los arroyos, los ríos, los torrentes de miel y de leche.

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

18 R estituirá sus ganancias y sus bienes sin haberlos tragado ni gozado de ellos.

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 or cuanto quebrantó y desamparó a los pobres, y robó casas no edificadas por él,

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

20 p or eso no tendrá sosiego su vientre ni salvará nada de lo que codiciaba.

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

21 N ada quedó que él no devorara, y por eso su bienestar no será duradero.

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

22 E n la plenitud de su abundancia padecerá estrechez; la mano de todos los malvados caerá sobre él.

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

23 C uando se ponga a llenar su vientre, Dios enviará sobre él el ardor de su ira, y la hará llover sobre él y sobre su comida.

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 H uirá de las armas de hierro y 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 saeta lo traspasará, atravesará su cuerpo; la punta reluciente saldrá por su hiel. ¡Sobre él vendrán terrores!

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

26 U na total tiniebla está reservada para sus tesoros; un fuego no atizado los consumirá y devorará lo que quede en su morada.

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 descubrirán 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 os renuevos de su casa serán llevados de allí, serán esparcidos en el día de su furor.

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

29 É sta es la suerte que Dios prepara para el hombre impío, la herencia que Dios le señala por su palabra.»

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