Job 4
1 Respondens autem Eliphaz Themanites, dixit:
And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,
2 Si cœperimus loqui tibi, forsitan moleste accipies, sed conceptum sermonem tenere quis poterit?
If one says a word, will it be a weariness to you? but who is able to keep from saying what is in his mind?
3 Ecce docuisti multos, et manus lassas roborasti:
Truly, you have been a helper to others, and you have made feeble hands strong;
4 Vacillantes confirmaverunt sermones tui, et genua trementia confortasti:
He who was near to falling has been lifted up by your words, and you have given strength to bent knees.
5 Nunc autem venit super te plaga, et defecisti: tetigit te, et conturbatus es.
But now it has come on you and it is a weariness to you; you are touched by it and your mind is troubled.
6 Ubi est timor tuus, fortitudo tua, patientia tua, et perfectio viarum tuarum?
Is not your fear of God your support, and your upright way of life your hope?
7 Recordare obsecro te, quis umquam innocens periit? aut quando recti deleti sunt?
Have you ever seen destruction come to an upright man? or when were the god-fearing ever cut off?
8 Quin potius vidi eos, qui operantur iniquitatem, et seminant dolores, et metunt eos,
What I have seen is that those by whom trouble has been ploughed, and evil planted, get the same for themselves.
9 Flante Deo perisse, et spiritu iræ eius esse consumptos:
By the breath of God destruction takes them, and by the wind of his wrath they are cut off.
10 Rugitus leonis, et vox leænæ, et dentes catulorum leonum contriti sunt.
Though the noise of the lion and the sounding of his voice, may be loud, the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 Tigris periit, eo quod non haberet prædam, et catuli leonis dissipati sunt.
The old lion comes to his end for need of food, and the young of the she-lion go wandering in all directions.
12 Porro ad me dictum est verbum absconditum, et quasi furtive suscepit auris mea venas susurri eius.
A word was given to me secretly, and the low sound of it came to my ears.
13 In horrore visionis nocturnæ, quando solet sopor occupare homines,
In troubled thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep comes on men,
14 Pavor tenuit me, et tremor, et omnia ossa mea perterrita sunt:
Fear came on me and shaking, and my bones were full of trouble;
15 Et cum spiritus me præsente transiret, inhorruerunt pili carnis meæ.
And a breath was moving over my face; the hair of my flesh became stiff:
16 Stetit quidam, cuius non agnoscebam vultum, imago coram oculis meis, et vocem quasi auræ lenis audivi.
Something was present before me, but I was not able to see it clearly; there was a form before my eyes: a quiet voice came to my ears, saying:
17 Numquid homo, Dei comparatione iustificabitur, aut Factore suo purior erit vir?
May a man be upright before God? or a man be clean before his Maker?
18 Ecce qui serviunt ei, non sunt stabiles, et in angelis suis reperit pravitatem:
Truly, he puts no faith in his servants, and he sees error in his angels;
19 Quanto magis hi qui habitant domos luteas, qui terrenum habent fundamentum, consumentur velut a tinea?
How much more those living in houses of earth, whose bases are in the dust! They are crushed more quickly than an insect;
20 De mane usque ad vesperam succidentur: et quia nullus intelligit, in æternum peribunt.
Between morning and evening they are completely broken; they come to an end for ever, and no one takes note.
21 Qui autem reliqui fuerint, auferentur ex eis: morientur, et non in sapientia.
If their tent-cord is pulled up, do they not come to an end, and without wisdom?
