| | | English | Latin |
| 20 | 1 | Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said: | respondens autem Sophar Naamathites dixit |
| 20 | 2 | Therefore various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind is hurried away to different things. | idcirco cogitationes meae variae succedunt sibi et mens in diversa rapitur |
| 20 | 3 | The doctrine with which thou reprovest me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding shall answer for me. | doctrinam qua me arguis audiam et spiritus intellegentiae meae respondebit mihi |
| 20 | 4 | This I know from the beginning, since man was placed upon the earth, | hoc scio a principio ex quo positus est homo super terram |
| 20 | 5 | That the praise of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment. | quod laus impiorum brevis sit et gaudium hypocritae ad instar puncti |
| 20 | 6 | If his pride mount up even to heaven, and his head touch the clouds: | si ascenderit usque ad caelum superbia eius et caput eius nubes tetigerit |
| 20 | 7 | In the end he shall be destroyed like a dunghill, and they that had seen him, shall say: Where is he? | quasi sterquilinium in fine perdetur et qui eum viderant dicent ubi est |
| 20 | 8 | As a dream that fleeth away he shall not be found, he shall pass as a vision of the night: | velut somnium avolans non invenietur transiet sicut visio nocturna |
| 20 | 9 | The eyes that had seen him, shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more behold him. | oculus qui eum viderat non videbit neque ultra intuebitur eum locus suus |
| 20 | 10 | His children shall be oppressed with want, and his hands shall render to him his sorrow. | filii eius adterentur egestate et manus illius reddent ei dolorem suum |
| 20 | 11 | His bones shall be filled with the vices of his youth, and they shall sleep with him in the dust. | ossa eius implebuntur vitiis adulescentiae eius et cum eo in pulverem dormient |
| 20 | 12 | For when evil shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue. | cum enim dulce fuerit in ore eius malum abscondet illud sub lingua sua |
| 20 | 13 | He will spare it, and not leave it, and will hide it in his throat. | parcet illi et non derelinquet illud et celabit in gutture suo |
| 20 | 14 | His bread in his belly shall be turned into the gall of asps within him, | panis eius in utero illius vertetur in fel aspidum intrinsecus |
| 20 | 15 | The riches which he hath swallowed, he shall vomit up, and God shall draw them out of his belly. | divitias quas devoravit evomet et de ventre illius extrahet eas Deus |
| 20 | 16 | He shall suck the head of asps, and the viper's tongue shall kill him. | caput aspidum suget occidet eum lingua viperae |
| 20 | 17 | Let him not see the streams of the river, the brooks of honey and of butter. | non videat rivulos fluminis torrentes mellis et butyri |
| 20 | 18 | He shall be punished for all that he did, and yet shall not be consumed: according to the multitude of his devices so also shall he suffer. | luet quae fecit omnia nec tamen consumetur iuxta multitudinem adinventionum suarum sic et sustinebit |
| 20 | 19 | Because he broke in and stripped the poor: he hath violently taken away a house which he did not build. | quoniam confringens nudavit pauperes domum rapuit et non aedificavit eam |
| 20 | 20 | And yet his belly was not filled: and when he hath the things he coveted, he shall not be able to possess them. | nec est satiatus venter eius et cum habuerit quae cupierat possidere non poterit |
| 20 | 21 | There was nothing left of his meat, and therefore nothing shall continue of his goods: | non remansit de cibo eius et propterea nihil permanebit de bonis eius |
| 20 | 22 | When he shall be filled, he shall be straitened, he shall burn, and every sorrow shall fall upon him. | cum satiatus fuerit artabitur aestuabit et omnis dolor inruet in eum |
| 20 | 23 | May his belly be filled, that God may send forth the wrath of his indignation upon him, and rain down his war upon him. | utinam impleatur venter eius ut emittat in eum iram furoris sui et pluat super illum bellum suum |
| 20 | 24 | He shall flee from weapons of iron, and shall fall upon a bow of brass. | fugiet arma ferrea et inruet in arcum aereum |
| 20 | 25 | The sword is drawn out, and cometh forth from its scabbard, and glittereth in his bitterness: the terrible ones shall go and come upon him. | eductus et egrediens de vagina sua et fulgurans in amaritudine sua vadent et venient super eum horribiles |
| 20 | 26 | All darkness is hid in his secret places: a fire that is not kindled shall devour him, he shall be afflicted when left in his tabernacle. | omnes tenebrae absconditae sunt in occultis eius devorabit eum ignis qui non succenditur adfligetur relictus in tabernaculo suo |
| 20 | 27 | The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him. | revelabunt caeli iniquitatem eius et terra consurget adversus eum |
| 20 | 28 | The offspring of his house shall be exposed, he shall be pulled down in the day of God's wrath. | apertum erit germen domus illius detrahetur in die furoris Dei |
| 20 | 29 | This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his doings from the Lord. | haec est pars hominis impii a Deo et hereditas verborum eius a Domino |