< Job 23 >

1 Then Job answered and said,
Respondens autem Iob, ait:
2 Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.
Nunc quoque in amaritudine est sermo meus, et manus plagæ meæ aggravata est super gemitum meum.
3 O that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
Quis mihi tribuat ut cognoscam et inveniam illum, et veniam usque ad solium eius?
4 I would set my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
Ponam coram eo iudicium, et os meum replebo increpationibus.
5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me.
Ut sciam verba, quæ mihi respondeat, et intelligam quid loquatur mihi.
6 Would he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.
Nolo multa fortitudine contendat mecum, nec magnitudinis suæ mole me premat.
7 There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
Proponat æquitatem contra me, et perveniat ad victoriam iudicium meum.
8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
Si ad Orientem iero, non apparet: si ad Occidentem, non intelligam eum.
9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:
Si ad sinistram, quid agam? non apprehendam eum: si me vertam ad dexteram, non videbo illum.
10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Ipse vero scit viam meam, et probavit me quasi aurum, quod per ignem transit:
11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
Vestigia eius secutus est pes meus, viam eius custodivi, et non declinavi ex ea.
12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
A mandatis labiorum eius non recessi, et in sinu meo abscondi verba oris eius.
13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Ipse enim solus est, et nemo avertere potest cogitationem eius: et anima eius quodcumque voluit, hoc fecit.
14 For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.
Cum expleverit in me voluntatem suam, et alia multa similia præsto sunt ei.
15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.
Et idcirco a facie eius turbatus sum, et considerans eum, timore sollicitor.
16 For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:
Deus mollivit cor meum, et Omnipotens conturbavit me.
17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.
Non enim perii propter imminentes tenebras, nec faciem meam operuit caligo.

< Job 23 >