Job 20:3-13

3 La reprensión de mi censura he oído, y me hace responder el espíritu de mi inteligencia

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

5 que la alegría de los impíos es breve, y el gozo del hipócrita por un momento

6 Si subiere su altura hasta el cielo, y su cabeza tocare en las nubes

7 como su mismo estiércol perecerá para siempre; los que le hubieren visto, dirán: ¿Qué es de él

8 Como sueño volará, y no será hallado; y se disipará como visión nocturna

9 El ojo que le habrá visto, nunca más le vera; ni su lugar le echará más de ver

10 Sus hijos pobres andarán rogando; y sus manos devolverán lo que él robó

11 Sus huesos están llenos de los pecados de su juventud, y con él serán sepultados en el polvo

12 Si el mal se endulzó en su boca, si lo ocultaba debajo de su lengua

13 si le parecía bien, y no lo dejaba, sino que lo detenía entre su paladar

Job 20:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

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.