Job 23
1 Job replied,
Respondens autem Job, ait:
2 “Just the same, my complaints today remain bitter. In spite of my groaning he is still punishing me.
Nunc quoque in amaritudine est sermo meus, et manus plagæ meæ aggravata est super gemitum meum.
3 If only I knew where I could find him so I could go to where he sits in judgment.
Quis mihi tribuat ut cognoscam et inveniam illum, et veniam usque ad solium ejus?
4 There I would lay out my case before him and present all my arguments in full.
Ponam coram eo judicium, et os meum replebo increpationibus:
5 I would discover how he would answer me and learn what he has to say to me.
ut sciam verba quæ mihi respondeat, et intelligam quid loquatur mihi.
6 Would he fight against me using his mighty power? No, he would pay attention to what I have to say.
Nolo multa fortitudine contendat mecum, nec magnitudinis suæ mole me premat.
7 There a good person could reason with him, and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.
Proponat æquitatem contra me, et perveniat ad victoriam judicium meum.
8 If I go to the east, he's not there; if I go the west, I don't find him.
Si ad orientem iero, non apparet; si ad occidentem, non intelligam eum.
9 If he's working in the north, I don't perceive him; if he's moving south, I don't see him.
Si ad sinistram, quid agam? non apprehendam eum; si me vertam ad dexteram, non videbo illum.
10 Yet he always knows where I'm going. When he has proved me, I will come out shining like gold.
Ipse vero scit viam meam, et probavit me quasi aurum quod per ignem transit.
11 I have kept in step with him; I have followed his way without turning aside.
Vestigia ejus secutus est pes meus: viam ejus custodivi, et non declinavi ex ea.
12 I have not neglected his commands, for I value what he has told me to do more than the food I eat every day.
A mandatis labiorum ejus non recessi, et in sinu meo abscondi verba oris ejus.
13 But God is unchangeable—who can turn him from his purposes? He does whatever he wants to do.
Ipse enim solus est, et nemo avertere potest cogitationem ejus: et anima ejus quodcumque voluit, hoc fecit.
14 So he will finish whatever he has planned for me—and he has many plans for me.
Cum expleverit in me voluntatem suam, et alia multa similia præsto sunt ei.
15 That's why I'm terrified at meeting him; when I think of him I tremble with fear.
Et idcirco a facie ejus turbatus sum, et considerans eum, timore sollicitor.
16 God has made me faint-hearted; the Almighty has scared me to death.
Deus mollivit cor meum, et Omnipotens conturbavit me.
17 Yet I'm still here despite the dark—even though I can't see through the utter darkness.
Non enim perii propter imminentes tenebras, nec faciem meam operuit caligo.
