The Book of Job Paraphrased, Chapter 20
CHAP. XX.
ARGUMENT.
The abrupt beginning of this Speech of Zophar ſhews that he was in a paſſion; which, though he pretends to bridle it, would not let him calmly conſider the Proteſtation which Job had made of his Innocence. But he goes on in the old Common place of the certain Downfall of the Wicked, be he never ſo powerfull and well ſupported. Which he illuſtrates indeed after an excellent faſhion, with great variety of Figures, and remarks upon Hiſtories as old as the World. In ſome of which he had obſerved, that the Wicked after their Fall had made not able attempts to get up again; but by the hand of God were ſo cruſhed, that they could never riſe more. All the ſlaw in his Diſcourſe is this, (which was common to him with the reſt,) that he imagined God never varied from this method; and therefore Job, without doubt, was a very bad man, though it did not appear he was, any other way, but by his Infelicity.
1. THEN anſwered Zophar the Naamathite, and ſaid,1. HERE Zophar, though he had no new thing to produce, haſtily interrupted Job, and ſaid,
2. Therefore do my thoughts cauſe me to anſwer, and for this I make haſte.2. Theſe words of thine make my former thoughts return again; and do ſo provoke me, that I am not able to forbear ſpeaking any longer.
3. I have heard the check of my reproach, and the ſpirit of my underſtanding cauſeth me to anſwer.3. While thou pretendeſt to correct my Errours, I have heard my ſelf rather ſhamefully reproached: yet I will not ſuffer my Paſſion to reply, but the clear light of my Underſtanding ſhall anſwer for me.
4. Knoweſt thou not this of old, ſince man was placed upon earth,4. It ſeems thou doſt not yet underſtand, though it be a Truth as old as the World,
5. That the triumphing of the wicked is ſhort, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?5. That the Happineſs which the Wicked, and he that counterfeits Piety, ſo much boaſt of, is of no long ſtanding; and will continue but for a few moments.
6. Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds:6. Though he ſhould be advanced to the higheſt pitch of humane Greatneſs, and overtop all mankind, as much as the higheſt trees do the loweſt ſhrubs;
7. Yet he ſhall periſh for ever, like his own dung: they which have ſeen him ſhall ſay, Where is he?7. Yet he ſhall fall as low as his dunghill, and, like it, be caſt out for ever with contempt: They who ſaw him ſo flouriſhing ſhall be aſtoniſh'd at his Ruin, and ask with amazement, What is become of him?
8. He ſhall flie away as a dream, and ſhall not be found: yea, he ſhall be chaſed away as a viſion of the night.8. For his Happineſs hath no firmer foundation then a Dream, of which we have no remembrance in the morning; or if we have, all the rich furniture and feaſts which appear to us in our ſleep, vaniſh in an inſtant as ſoon as we awake.
9. The eye alſo which ſaw him, ſhall ſee him no more; neither ſhall his place any more behold him.9. Juſt ſo ſhall he paſs away, and all his Glory with him: Thoſe eyes that were wont to gaze upon it with envy, ſhall loſe the ſight of it, and never behold it more.
10. His children ſhall ſeek to pleaſe the poor, and his hands ſhall reſtore their goods.10. His Children ſhall have enough to doe to pacify the rage of the Poor, whom he hath oppreſſed; and he ſhall be forced with ſhame to reſtore with his own hands the goods he hath extorted from them.
11. His bones are full of the ſin of his youth, which ſhall lie down with him in the duſt.11. His very Bones are full of pain and anguiſh. All which Puniſhments of his ſecret Sins ſhall ſtick to him till they bring him to his Grave.
12. Though wickedneſs be ſweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue:12. Though Wickedneſs, like ſome dangerous meats, be pleaſant in the acting, as they are in the chewing; ſo that a man is as deſirous to continue it, as a Glutton is to keep a long reliſh of thoſe ſweet morſels upon his palate:
13. Though he ſpare it, and forſake it not; but keep it ſtill within his mouth:13. Though he will by no means part with it, when he is told the danger; but ſtill retains it, as the other doth that meat in his mouth, which he is told is no better then poiſon:
14. Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of aſps within him.14. Yet after it is committed it wrings and gripes the Conſcience; as thoſe dainty bits, when they are ſwallowed, do the bowells: the pleaſure is turned into pain, the ſweetneſs into ſuch bitterneſs as brings the moſt ſudden deſtruction.
15. He hath ſwallowed down riches, and he ſhall vomit them up again: God ſhall caſt them out of his belly.15. His ill-gotten Goods, for inſtance, which he devoured with ſo much greedineſs and unſatiable deſire, ſhall never thrive with him; but he ſhall be forced to refund them with a torment far exceeding the pleaſure wherewith he got them: God himſelf ſhall violently force them from him, and all his other Riches together with them.
16. He ſhall ſuck the poiſon of aſps: the viper's tongue ſhall ſlay him.16. Which ſhall prove as great and as deadly a Torture to him, as if, when he ſqueezed the poor, he had ſuck'd the poiſon of Aſps, or been bitten with a Viper.
17. He ſhall not ſee the rivers, the flouds, the brooks of honey and butter.17. This ſhall be his portion, in ſtead of the pleaſures of Nature and Art; which he flattered himſelf would flow in ſeveral ſtreams to him perpetually.
18. 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 rejoyce therein.18. He may endeavour again with new labour to repair his broken fortune; but it ſhall be in vain: though he ſhould get as much Riches as he had before his change, he ſhall have no joy in them.
19. Becauſe he hath oppreſſed, and hath forſaken the poor; becauſe he hath violently taken away an houſe which he builded not:19. When he hath with new Oppreſſions grinded the poor, and left them deſtitute, when he hath violently ſeized on a Houſe, he ſhall not be able to build it.
20. Surely he ſhall not feel quietneſs in his belly, he ſhall not ſave of that which he deſired.20. When he hath turned, as we ſay, every ſtone, and been as reſtleſs as a woman in travail; all his pains ſhall bring forth nothing of that which he deſired.
21. There ſhall none of his meat be left; therefore ſhall no man look for his goods.21. He ſhall have no more left him to eat, then he was wont to leave for others; which ſhall put him out of all hope of mending his condition.
22. In the fulneſs of his ſufficiency he ſhall be in ſtreights: every hand of the wicked ſhall come upon him.22. The greater fulneſs you can ſuppoſe him to regain of worldly Goods, the more he ſhall be diſtreſſed; for the hand of every man whom he hath afflicted ſhall lay hold on him to demand ſatisfaction.
23. 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.23. God himſelf alſo ſhall diſturb him in his Enjoyments, with the ſoreſt effects of his Divine Vengeance; which ſhall come pouring down from Heaven, when he thinks himſelf moſt ſecure.
24. He ſhall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of ſteel ſhall ſtrike him through.24. He ſhall run from a leſſer Danger to fall into a greater; as if one, avoiding the weapon in a man's hand, ſhould be ſhot through with a bow of ſteel.
25. It is drawn and cometh out of the body; yea, the gliſtring ſword cometh out of his gall; terrours are upon him.25. And though he ſhould draw the ſhaft out of his body, and the wound in his bowels ſhould be healed, he ſhall not eſcape ſo; for Terrours ſhall perpetually accompany him.
26. 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.26. Nothing but dreadfull Dangers ſhall wait for him in thoſe places where he hoped for Safety: a Fire not kindled by man ſhall devour him; and the ſame Peſtilence or Burning-fever ſhall take hold of the reſt of his Family.
27. The heaven ſhall reveal his iniquity: and the earth ſhall riſe up againſt him.27. The Heaven by Thunder, Lightning or Tempeſts ſhall declare it ſelf his enemy; and the Earth by Wild beaſts, or Serpents, or ſome other way, ſhall make war againſt him.
28. The increaſe of his houſe ſhall depart, and his goods ſhall flow away in the day of his wrath.28. His whole Revenue ſhall melt away as waters poured out, in the day when God intends to puniſh him.
29. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.29. This is the portion which God the righteous Judge will allot to the Wicked: thus will the Almighty reward his Blaſphemies, or his other proud and inſolent words.