約伯記 4
1 特曼人厄里法次開始說：
But Eliphaz the Themanite, answering, said:
2 人若和你講話，你能忍受嗎﹖但誰又能忍住不說﹖
If we start to speak to you, perhaps you will take it badly, but who can hold back the words he has conceived?
3 看，你曾勸戒過許多人，堅固過軟弱無能的人；
Behold, you have taught many, and you have strengthened weary hands.
4 你的話扶起了跌倒的人，堅固了膝弱無力的人；
Your words have reassured the wavering, and you have fortified the trembling knees.
5 但是現今災禍一臨於你，你就萎靡不振；一接觸你，你就沮喪失意。
But now the scourge has overcome you, and you falter. It has touched you, and you are disturbed.
6 你敬畏天主之情，豈不是你的依靠﹖你完善的行為，豈不是你的希望﹖
Where is your reverence, your fortitude, your patience, and the perfection of your ways?
7 請想：那有無辜者喪亡﹖那有正直者消逝﹖
Consider this, I beg you: who ever perished being innocent? Or when have the righteous been destroyed?
8 照我所見：那播種邪惡的，必收邪惡；散佈毒害的，必收毒害。
In fact, I have instead seen those who work iniquity and who sow resentments, reap them,
9 天主一噓氣，他們即滅亡；一發怒氣，他們即消失。
perishing by the breath of God, and being consumed by the wrath of his spirit.
10 獅吼豹嗥完全止息，幼獅的牙齒也被打碎；
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of young lions have been worn away.
11 壯獅因缺獵物而滅絕，牝獅幼子各自東西離散。
The tiger has perished because it does not have prey, and the young lions have been scattered.
12 我竊聽到一句話，我耳聽見細語聲。
Furthermore, a word was spoken to me in secret, and, as if by theft, my ears received the pulse of its whisper.
13 當人沉睡時，夜夢多幻象；
In the horror of a vision by night, when men are accustomed to be overtaken by a deep sleep,
14 我恐怖戰慄，全身骨頭發抖。
fear and trembling seized me and all my bones were terrified.
15 寒風掠過我面，使我毛髮悚然。
And when a spirit passed before me, the hair on my body stood up.
16 他停立不動，但我不能辨其形狀；我面前出現形影，我聽見細微的聲音：
There appeared an image before my eyes, someone whose face I did not recognize, and I heard a voice like a gentle breeze.
17 人豈能在天主前自以為義﹖在造他者前，自以為潔﹖
Should man be justified in relation to God, or will a man be more pure than his Maker?
18 看，他的僕役，他還不信；他的使者，他還歸罪，
Behold, those who serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he finds imperfection.
19 何況那以泥屋為居所，以塵土為基礎的人! 他們為人踐踏，有如蠹蟲；
How much more will those who live in houses of clay, which have an earthly foundation, be consumed like the moth?
20 晨昏間即化為齏粉，永遠消亡而無人一顧。
From morning all the way to evening, they will be cut down, and because no one understands, they will be destroyed without ceasing.
21 幕索如已自斷，他們豈不是因缺少智慧而死亡﹖
But those who are left behind will be taken away from them; they will die, and not in wisdom.
