約伯記 21
1 約伯回答說：
And Job answereth and saith: —
2 你們且聽一聽我的話! 這也算是你們給我的安慰。
Hear ye diligently my word, And this is your consolation.
3 請讓我發言，我說完後，任你們笑罵。
Bear with me, and I speak, And after my speaking — ye may deride.
4 我豈是抱怨人﹖我失了忍耐，難道沒有理由﹖
I — to man [is] my complaint? and if [so], wherefore May not my temper become short?
5 你們注意聽我，必要吃驚，且要用手堵住口。
Turn unto me, and be astonished, And put hand to mouth.
6 甚至我一回想，我就恐怖，全身戰慄。
Yea, if I have remembered, then I have been troubled. And my flesh hath taken fright.
7 惡人為何享受高壽而勢力強大﹖
Wherefore do the wicked live? They have become old, Yea, they have been mighty in wealth.
8 他們在世時，子孫昌盛，親眼看見子子孫孫。
Their seed is established, Before their face with them, And their offspring before their eyes.
9 他們的住宅平安，無所畏懼，天主的棍杖也不加在他們身上。
Their houses [are] peace without fear, Nor [is] a rod of God upon them.
10 他們的公牛交尾，無不成功；母牛產子，決無流產。
His bullock hath eaten corn, and doth not loath. His cow bringeth forth safely, And doth not miscarry.
11 他們使孩子跑出像羊群，子女跳躍如麋鹿。
They send forth as a flock their sucklings, And their children skip,
12 他們伴著手鼓與豎琴歌唱，隨著笛聲歡呼。
They lift [themselves] up at timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of an organ.
They wear out in good their days, And in a moment [to] Sheol go down. (Sheol h7585)
14 但他們曾向天主說：「離開我們! 我們不願知道你的道路。
And they say to God, 'Turn aside from us, And the knowledge of Thy ways We have not desired.
15 全能者是誰，竟叫我們事奉他﹖我們祈求他有什麼好處﹖」
What [is] the Mighty One that we serve Him? And what do we profit when we meet with Him?'
16 看啊! 他們的幸福，豈不在他們掌握中﹖惡人的思想豈不離他很遠﹖
Lo, not in their hand [is] their good, (The counsel of the wicked Hath been far from me.)
17 惡人的燈有多少次熄滅過﹖災禍有多少次降在他們身上﹖天主何嘗因忿怒而消滅他們﹖
How oft is the lamp of the wicked extinguished, And come on them doth their calamity? Pangs He apportioneth in His anger.
18 使他們好像被風吹的碎湝﹖好像被暴風捲去的糠秕﹖
They are as straw before wind, And as chaff a hurricane hath stolen away,
19 難道天主要向他的兒子討罪債﹖其實應向他本人報復，叫他覺悟!
God layeth up for his sons his sorrow, He giveth recompense unto him — and he knoweth.
20 叫他親眼看見自己的毀滅，親自飲下全能者的義怒之杯。
His own eyes see his destruction, And of the wrath of the Mighty he drinketh.
21 他既逝去，他本人的歲月已絕，他的家庭對他還有什麼相干﹖
For what [is] his delight in his house after him, And the number of his months cut off?
22 天主既審判天上者，人豈能教給他什麼智識﹖
To God doth [one] teach knowledge, And He the high doth judge?
23 有人到死一無所缺，享盡了平安幸福。
This [one] dieth in his perfect strength, Wholly at ease and quiet.
24 他的腰部充滿脂肪，他的骨髓潤澤豐盈；
His breasts have been full of milk, And marrow his bones doth moisten.
25 但有人卻至死心靈酸苦，一生毫無福樂；
And this [one] dieth with a bitter soul, And have not eaten with gladness.
26 他們卻一同埋於塵土，為蛆蟲所掩蓋。
Together — on the dust they lie down, And the worm doth cover them over.
27 我確知你們的思想，以及對我所籌劃的陰謀。
Lo, I have known your thoughts, And the devices against me ye do wrongfully.
28 你們要問：「霸王的家在那裏﹖惡人住的帳幕在何處﹖」
For ye say, 'Where [is] the house of the noble? And where the tent — The tabernacles of the wicked?'
29 你們怎麼不問過路的人﹖難道你們不承認他們的證據﹖
Have ye not asked those passing by the way? And their signs do ye not know?
30 「惡人在毀滅之日不受害，在憤怒之日會得救。」
That to a day of calamity is the wicked spared. To a day of wrath they are brought.
31 他的動作，誰敢當面指摘﹖他的行為，誰能報復﹖
Who doth declare to his face his way? And [for] that which he hath done, Who doth give recompence to him?
32 他最後被抬入墳墓，且親自守護自己的墓地。
And he — to the graves he is brought. And over the heap a watch is kept.
33 谷中的土壤，他感覺甘美；眾人都跟他而去，但在他前面的人，更不可勝數。
Sweet to him have been the clods of the valley, And after him every man he draweth, And before him there is no numbering.
34 你們為何說空話來安慰我﹖你們的答話顯然只是欺詐!
And how do ye comfort me [with] vanity, And in your answers hath been left trespass?
