Job 20

1 Segunda respuesta de Zofar a Job
Entonces Zofar el naamatita respondió:

2 «Debo responder
porque estoy muy molesto.

3 He tenido que soportar tus insultos,
pero ahora mi espíritu me mueve a responder.

4 »¿No te das cuenta que desde el principio del tiempo,
desde que el hombre fue puesto sobre la tierra por primera vez,

5 el triunfo de los malos ha durado poco
y la alegría de los que viven sin Dios ha sido pasajera?

6 Aunque el orgullo de los incrédulos llegue hasta los cielos
y toquen las nubes con la cabeza,

7 aun así, ellos desaparecerán para siempre
y serán desechados como su propio estiércol.
Sus conocidos preguntarán:
“¿Dónde están?”.

8 Se desvanecerán como un sueño y nadie los encontrará;
desaparecerán como una visión nocturna.

9 Quienes alguna vez los vieron, no los verán más;
sus familias nunca volverán a verlos.

10 Sus hijos mendigarán de los pobres
porque tendrán que devolver las riquezas que robaron.

11 A pesar de ser jóvenes
sus huesos yacerán en el polvo.

12 »Ellos disfrutaron del dulce sabor de la maldad,
dejando que se deshiciera bajo su lengua.

13 La saborearon,
dejándola mucho tiempo en la boca;

14 pero de repente, la comida en su estómago se vuelve ácida,
un veneno en su vientre.

15 Vomitarán la riqueza que se tragaron;
Dios no permitirá que la retengan.

16 Chuparán el veneno de cobras
y la víbora los matará.

17 Nunca más disfrutarán de las corrientes de aceite de oliva
ni de los ríos de leche y miel.

18 Devolverán todo lo que consiguieron con tanto esfuerzo;
su riqueza no les traerá alegría.

19 Pues oprimieron a los pobres y los dejaron sin nada;
se adueñaron de sus casas.

20 Estuvieron siempre llenos de avaricia y nunca quedaron satisfechos;
no queda nada de todo lo que soñaron.

21 Comen hasta hartarse pero después no les queda nada,
por eso, su prosperidad no perdurará.

22 »En medio de la abundancia, caerán en dificultades
y el sufrimiento se apoderará de ellos.

23 Que Dios les llene la vida de problemas;
que Dios haga llover su enojo sobre ellos.

24 Cuando intenten escapar de un arma de hierro,
una flecha de bronce los atravesará.

25 Cuando les arranquen la flecha de la espalda
la punta brillará con sangre.
El terror de la muerte los invade.

26 Sus tesoros serán lanzados a la más densa oscuridad.
Un fuego descontrolado devorará sus bienes,
y consumirá todo lo que les queda.

27 Los cielos pondrán al descubierto su culpa,
y la tierra testificará contra ellos.

28 La inundación arrasará con su casa;
el enojo de Dios descenderá en torrentes sobre ellos.

29 Esa es la recompensa que Dios da a los malvados;
es la herencia decretada por Dios».

Job 20 Commentary

Chapter 20

Zophar speaks of the short joy of the wicked. (1-9) The ruin of the wicked. (10-22) The portion of the wicked. (23-29)

Verses 1-9 Zophar's discourse is upon the certain misery of the wicked. The triumph of the wicked and the joy of the hypocrite are fleeting. The pleasures and gains of sin bring disease and pain; they end in remorse, anguish, and ruin. Dissembled piety is double iniquity, and the ruin that attends it will be accordingly.

Verses 10-22 The miserable condition of the wicked man in this world is fully set forth. The lusts of the flesh are here called the sins of his youth. His hiding it and keeping it under his tongue, denotes concealment of his beloved lust, and delight therein. But He who knows what is in the heart, knows what is under the tongue, and will discover it. The love of the world, and of the wealth of it, also is wickedness, and man sets his heart upon these. Also violence and injustice, these sins bring God's judgments upon nations and families. Observe the punishment of the wicked man for these things. Sin is turned into gall, than which nothing is more bitter; it will prove to him poison; so will all unlawful gains be. In his fulness he shall be in straits, through the anxieties of his own mind. To be led by the sanctifying grace of God to restore what was unjustly gotten, as Zaccheus was, is a great mercy. But to be forced to restore by the horrors of a despairing conscience, as Judas was, has no benefit and comfort attending it.

Verses 23-29 Zophar, having described the vexations which attend wicked practices, shows their ruin from God's wrath. There is no fence against this, but in Christ, who is the only Covert from the storm and tempest, ( Isaiah 32:2 ) . Zophar concludes, "This is the portion of a wicked man from God;" it is allotted him. Never was any doctrine better explained, or worse applied, than this by Zophar, who intended to prove Job a hypocrite. Let us receive the good explanation, and make a better application, for warning to ourselves, to stand in awe and sin not. One view of Jesus, directed by the Holy Spirit, and by him suitably impressed upon our souls, will quell a thousand carnal reasonings about the suffering of the faithful.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 20

Zophar and his friends, not satisfied with Job's confession of faith, he in his turn replies, and in his preface gives his reasons why he made any answer at all, and was so quick in it, Job 20:1-3; and appeals to Job for the truth of an old established maxim, that the prosperity of wicked men and hypocrites is very short lived, Job 20:4,5; and the short enjoyment of their happiness is described by several elegant figures and similes, Job 20:6-9; such a wicked man being obliged, in his lifetime, to restore his ill gotten goods, and at death to lie down with the sins of his youth, Job 20:10,11; his sin in getting riches, the disquietude of his mind in retaining them, and his being forced to make restitution, are very beautifully expressed by the simile of a sweet morsel kept in the mouth, and turned to the gall of asps in the bowels, and then vomited up, Job 20:12-16; the disappointment he shall have, the indigent and strait circumstances he shall be brought into, and the restitution he shall be obliged to make for the oppression of the poor, and the uneasiness he shall feel in his own breast, are set forth in a very strong light, Job 20:17-22; and it is suggested, that not only the hand of wicked men should be upon him, but the wrath of God also, which should seize on him suddenly and secretly, and would be inevitable, he not being able to make his escape from it, and which would issue in the utter destruction of him and his in this world, and that to come, Job 20:23-28. And the chapter is, concluded with this observation, that such as before described is the appointed portion and heritage of a wicked man from God, Job 20:29.