< Job 21 >

1 Then Job answered,
respondens autem Iob dixit
2 “Listen diligently to my speech. Let this be your consolation.
audite quaeso sermones meos et agetis paenitentiam
3 Allow me, and I also will speak. After I have spoken, mock on.
sustinete me ut et ego loquar et post mea si videbitur verba ridete
4 As for me, is my complaint to man? Why shouldn’t I be impatient?
numquid contra hominem disputatio mea est ut merito non debeam contristari
5 Look at me, and be astonished. Lay your hand on your mouth.
adtendite me et obstupescite et superponite digitum ori vestro
6 When I remember, I am troubled. Horror takes hold of my flesh.
et ego quando recordatus fuero pertimesco et concutit carnem meam tremor
7 “Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, and grow mighty in power?
quare ergo impii vivunt sublevati sunt confortatique divitiis
8 Their child is established with them in their sight, their offspring before their eyes.
semen eorum permanet coram eis propinquorum turba et nepotum in conspectu eorum
9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
domus eorum securae sunt et pacatae et non est virga Dei super illos
10 Their bulls breed without fail. Their cows calve, and don’t miscarry.
bos eorum concepit et non abortit vacca peperit et non est privata fetu suo
11 They send out their little ones like a flock. Their children dance.
egrediuntur quasi greges parvuli eorum et infantes eorum exultant lusibus
12 They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
tenent tympanum et citharam et gaudent ad sonitum organi
13 They spend their days in prosperity. In an instant they go down to Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
ducunt in bonis dies suos et in puncto ad inferna descendunt (Sheol h7585)
14 They tell God, ‘Depart from us, for we don’t want to know about your ways.
qui dixerunt Deo recede a nobis et scientiam viarum tuarum nolumus
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?’
quid est Omnipotens ut serviamus ei et quid nobis prodest si oraverimus illum
16 Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
verumtamen quia non sunt in manu eorum bona sua consilium impiorum longe sit a me
17 “How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out, that their calamity comes on them, that God distributes sorrows in his anger?
quotiens lucerna impiorum extinguetur et superveniet eis inundatio et dolores dividet furoris sui
18 How often is it that they are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away?
erunt sicut paleae ante faciem venti et sicut favilla quam turbo dispergit
19 You say, ‘God lays up his iniquity for his children.’ Let him recompense it to himself, that he may know it.
Deus servabit filiis illius dolorem patris et cum reddiderit tunc sciet
20 Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
videbunt oculi eius interfectionem suam et de furore Omnipotentis bibet
21 For what does he care for his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?
quid enim ad eum pertinet de domo sua post se et si numerus mensuum eius dimidietur
22 “Shall any teach God knowledge, since he judges those who are high?
numquid Deum quispiam docebit scientiam qui excelsos iudicat
23 One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
iste moritur robustus et sanus dives et felix
24 His pails are full of milk. The marrow of his bones is moistened.
viscera eius plena sunt adipe et medullis ossa illius inrigantur
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul, and never tastes of good.
alius vero moritur in amaritudine animae absque ullis opibus
26 They lie down alike in the dust. The worm covers them.
et tamen simul in pulverem dormient et vermes operient eos
27 “Behold, I know your thoughts, the plans with which you would wrong me.
certe novi cogitationes vestras et sententias contra me iniquas
28 For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’
dicitis enim ubi est domus principis et ubi tabernacula impiorum
29 Haven’t you asked wayfaring men? Don’t you know their evidences,
interrogate quemlibet de viatoribus et haec eadem eum intellegere cognoscetis
30 that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity, that they are led out to the day of wrath?
quia in diem perditionis servabitur malus et ad diem furoris ducitur
31 Who will declare his way to his face? Who will repay him what he has done?
quis arguet coram eo viam eius et quae fecit quis reddet illi
32 Yet he will be borne to the grave. Men will keep watch over the tomb.
ipse ad sepulchra ducetur et in congerie mortuorum vigilabit
33 The clods of the valley will be sweet to him. All men will draw after him, as there were innumerable before him.
dulcis fuit glareis Cocyti et post se omnem hominem trahet et ante se innumerabiles
34 So how can you comfort me with nonsense, because in your answers there remains only falsehood?”
quomodo igitur consolamini me frustra cum responsio vestra repugnare ostensa sit veritati

< Job 21 >