Job 9
1 Et respondens Job, ait:
Then Job answered and said,
2 [Vere scio quod ita sit, et quod non justificetur homo compositus Deo.
“I truly know that this is so. But how can a person be in the right with God?
3 Si voluerit contendere cum eo, non poterit ei respondere unum pro mille.
If he wants to argue with God, he cannot answer him once in a thousand times.
4 Sapiens corde est, et fortis robore: quis restitit ei, et pacem habuit?
God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has ever hardened himself against him and succeeded?—
5 Qui transtulit montes, et nescierunt hi quos subvertit in furore suo.
he who removes the mountains without warning anyone when he overturns them in his anger—
6 Qui commovet terram de loco suo, et columnæ ejus concutiuntur.
he who shakes the earth out of its place and sets its supports trembling.
7 Qui præcipit soli, et non oritur, et stellas claudit quasi sub signaculo.
It is the same God who tells the sun not to rise, and it does not, and who covers up the stars,
8 Qui extendit cælos solus, et graditur super fluctus maris.
who by himself stretches out the heavens and tramples down the waves of the sea,
9 Qui facit Arcturum et Oriona, et Hyadas et interiora austri.
who makes the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the constellations of the south.
10 Qui facit magna, et incomprehensibilia, et mirabilia, quorum non est numerus.
He does great and unsearchable things, and wonderful things that cannot be counted.
11 Si venerit ad me, non videbo eum; si abierit, non intelligam.
See, he goes by me, and I do not see him; he passes on also, but I do not perceive him.
12 Si repente interroget, quis respondebit ei? vel quis dicere potest: Cur ita facis?
If he takes something away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'
13 Deus, cujus iræ nemo resistere potest, et sub quo curvantur qui portant orbem.
God will not withdraw his anger; the helpers of Rahab bow beneath him.
14 Quantus ergo sum ego, ut respondeam ei, et loquar verbis meis cum eo?
How much less could I answer him, could I choose words to reason with him?
15 qui etiam si habuero quippiam justum, non respondebo: sed meum judicem deprecabor.
Even if I were righteous, I could not answer him; I could only plead for mercy with my judge.
16 Et cum invocantem exaudierit me, non credo quod audierit vocem meam.
Even if I called and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
17 In turbine enim conteret me, et multiplicabit vulnera mea, etiam sine causa.
For he breaks me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause.
18 Non concedit requiescere spiritum meum, et implet me amaritudinibus.
He does not allow me to regain my breath; but he fills me with bitterness.
19 Si fortitudo quæritur, robustissimus est; si æquitas judicii, nemo audet pro me testimonium dicere.
If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?
20 Si justificare me voluero, os meum condemnabit me; si innocentem ostendero, pravum me comprobabit.
Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; and though I am blameless, my words would prove me to be guilty.
21 Etiam si simplex fuero, hoc ipsum ignorabit anima mea, et tædebit me vitæ meæ.
I am blameless, but I do not care any more about myself; I despise my own life.
22 Unum est quod locutus sum: et innocentem et impium ipse consumit.
It makes no difference, which is why I say that he destroys blameless people and wicked people together.
23 Si flagellat, occidat semel, et non de pœnis innocentum rideat.
When a whip suddenly kills, he mocks the despair of the innocent.
24 Terra data est in manus impii; vultum judicum ejus operit. Quod si non ille est, quis ergo est?
The earth is given into the hand of wicked people; God covers the faces of its judges. If it is not he who does it, then who is it?
25 Dies mei velociores fuerunt cursore; fugerunt, et non viderunt bonum.
My days are swifter than a running messenger; my days flee away; they see no good anywhere.
26 Pertransierunt quasi naves poma portantes; sicut aquila volans ad escam.
They are as fast as papyrus reed boats, and as fast as the eagle that swoops down on its victim.
27 Cum dixero: Nequaquam ita loquar: commuto faciem meam, et dolore torqueor.
If I said that I would forget about my complaints, that I would take off my sad face and be happy,
28 Verebar omnia opera mea, sciens quod non parceres delinquenti.
I would be afraid of all my sorrows because I know that you will not consider me innocent.
29 Si autem et sic impius sum, quare frustra laboravi?
I will be condemned; why, then, should I try in vain?
30 Si lotus fuero quasi aquis nivis, et fulserint velut mundissimæ manus meæ,
If I washed myself with snow water and made my hands ever so clean,
31 tamen sordibus intinges me, et abominabuntur me vestimenta mea.
God would plunge me in a ditch, and my own clothes would be disgusted with me.
32 Neque enim viro qui similis mei est, respondebo; nec qui mecum in judicio ex æquo possit audiri.
For God is not a man, as I am, that I could answer him, that we could come together in court.
33 Non est qui utrumque valeat arguere, et ponere manum suam in ambobus.
There is no judge between us who might lay his hand upon us both.
34 Auferat a me virgam suam, et pavor ejus non me terreat.
There is no other judge who could take God's rod off me, who could keep his terror from frightening me.
35 Loquar, et non timebo eum; neque enim possum metuens respondere.]
Then would I speak up and not fear him. But as things are now, I cannot do that.
