Shir ha-Shirim (שיר השירים ) - Cantico dei Cantici 20

MODERN HEBREW BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 ויען צפר הנעמתי ויאמר	1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered by saying:
2 לכן שעפי ישיבוני ובעבור חושי בי	2 In response, various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind moves quickly through different ideas.
3 מוסר כלמתי אשמע ורוח מבינתי יענני	3 The teaching you use to admonish me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding will respond for me.
4 הזאת ידעת מני עד מני שים אדם עלי ארץ	4 This, I know, is from the beginning, from the time that man was set over the earth:
5 כי רננת רשעים מקרוב ושמחת חנף עדי רגע	5 that the praise of the impious shall be short, and the joy of the hypocrite lasts only a moment.
6 אם יעלה לשמים שיאו וראשו לעב יגיע	6 If his pride ascends even towards the heavens, and his head touches the clouds,
7 כגללו לנצח יאבד ראיו יאמרו איו	7 in the end, he will be destroyed like a trash heap, and those who had seen him will say: “Where is he?”
8 כחלום יעוף ולא ימצאוהו וידד כחזיון לילה	8 Like a dream that flies away, he will not be found; he will pass away like a nightmare.
9 עין שזפתו ולא תוסיף ולא עוד תשורנו מקומו	9 The eyes that had seen him, will not see him; no longer will his own place admire him.
10 בניו ירצו דלים וידיו תשבנה אונו	10 His sons will be worn away by poverty, and his own hands will deliver his grief to him.
11 עצמותיו מלאו עלומו ועמו על עפר תשכב	11 His bones will be filled with the vices of his youth, and they will sleep with him in the dust.
12 אם תמתיק בפיו רעה יכחידנה תחת לשונו	12 For, when evil will be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue.
13 יחמל עליה ולא יעזבנה וימנענה בתוך חכו	13 He will permit it, and not abandon it, and he will conceal it in his throat.
14 לחמו במעיו נהפך מרורת פתנים בקרבו	14 His bread in his belly will be turned into the venom of snakes within him.
15 חיל בלע ויקאנו מבטנו יורשנו אל	15 The riches that he devours, he will vomit up, and from his stomach God will draw them out.
16 ראש פתנים יינק תהרגהו לשון אפעה	16 He will suck the head of snakes, and the tongue of the viper will kill him.
17 אל ירא בפלגות נהרי נחלי דבש וחמאה	17 (May he never see the streams of the river, the torrents of honey and butter.)
18 משיב יגע ולא יבלע כחיל תמורתו ולא יעלס	18 He will be repaid for all he has done, yet he will not be consumed; according to the multitude of his schemes, so also will he suffer.
19 כי רצץ עזב דלים בית גזל ולא יבנהו	19 For, having broken in, he stripped the poor. He has quickly stolen away a house he did not build.
20 כי לא ידע שלו בבטנו בחמודו לא ימלט	20 And yet his stomach will not be satisfied, and when he has the things he desires, he will not be able to possess them.
21 אין שריד לאכלו על כן לא יחיל טובו	21 Nothing remained of his portion, and, because of this, nothing will continue of his kind.
22 במלאות שפקו יצר לו כל יד עמל תבואנו	22 When he will be satisfied, he will be constrained; he will seethe, and all anguish will fall upon him.
23 יהי למלא בטנו ישלח בו חרון אפו וימטר עלימו בלחומו	23 May his stomach be filled, so that God may send forth the fury of his wrath to him and may rain down his battle upon him.
24 יברח מנשק ברזל תחלפהו קשת נחושה	24 He will flee from weapons of iron, and he will fall in an arc of brass,
25 שלף ויצא מגוה וברק ממררתו יהלך עליו אמים	25 which had been drawn and had issued forth from its sheath, glittering in its bitterness: the horrible ones will go forth and approach over him.
26 כל חשך טמון לצפוניו תאכלהו אש לא נפח ירע שריד באהלו	26 All darkness has been hidden in his secrecy. A fire that has not been set will devour him; he will be thrown down and forsaken in his tabernacle.
27 יגלו שמים עונו וארץ מתקוממה לו	27 The heavens will reveal his sinfulness, and the earth will rise up against him.
28 יגל יבול ביתו נגרות ביום אפו	28 The offspring of his house will be exposed; he will be pulled down in the day of God’s wrath.
29 זה חלק אדם רשע מאלהים ונחלת אמרו מאל	29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his words from the Lord.