約伯記 4

1 特曼人厄里法次開始說：

Then responded Eliphaz the Temanite, and said: —

2 人若和你講話，你能忍受嗎﹖但誰又能忍住不說﹖

If one attempt a word unto thee, wilt thou be impatient? But, to restrain speech, who, can endure?

3 看，你曾勸戒過許多人，堅固過軟弱無能的人；

Lo! thou hast admonished many, and, slack hands, hast thou been wont to uphold:

4 你的話扶起了跌倒的人，堅固了膝弱無力的人；

Him that was stumbling, have thy words raised up, and, sinking knees, hast thou strengthened.

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, it cometh upon thee, and thou despairest, It smiteth even thee, and thou art dismayed.

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﹖

Is not, thy reverence, thy confidence? And is not, thy hope, the very integrity of thy ways?

7 請想：那有無辜者喪亡﹖那有正直者消逝﹖

Remember, I pray thee, who, being innocent, hath perished, or when, the upright, have been cut off.

8 照我所見：那播種邪惡的，必收邪惡；散佈毒害的，必收毒害。

So far as I have seen, They who plow for iniquity and sow misery, reap the same:

9 天主一噓氣，他們即滅亡；一發怒氣，他們即消失。

By the blast of GOD, they perish, And, by the breath of his nostrils, are they consumed:

10 獅吼豹嗥完全止息，幼獅的牙齒也被打碎；

[Notwithstanding] the roaring of the lion, and the noise of the howling lion, yet, the teeth of the fierce lions, are broken:

11 壯獅因缺獵物而滅絕，牝獅幼子各自東西離散。

The strong lion perishing for lack of prey, Even the whelps of the lioness, are scattered.

12 我竊聽到一句話，我耳聽見細語聲。

But, unto me, something was brought by stealth, —and mine ear caught a whispering of the same:

13 當人沉睡時，夜夢多幻象；

When there were thoughts, from visions of the night, —When deep sleep falleth upon men,

14 我恐怖戰慄，全身骨頭發抖。

Dread, came upon me, and trembling, The multitude of my bones, it put in dread:

15 寒風掠過我面，使我毛髮悚然。

Then, a spirit, over my face, floated along, The hair of my flesh bristled-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：

It stood still, but I could not distinguish its appearance, I looked, but there was no form before mine eyes, —A whispering voice, I heard: —

17 人豈能在天主前自以為義﹖在造他者前，自以為潔﹖

Shall, mortal man, be more just than GOD? Or 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，

Lo! in his own servants, he trusteth not, and, his own messengers, he chargeth with error:

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 the dwellers in houses of clay, which, in the dust, have their foundation, which are crushed sooner than a moth:

20 晨昏間即化為齏粉，永遠消亡而無人一顧。

Betwixt morning and evening, are they broken in pieces, With none to save, they utterly perish:

21 幕索如已自斷，他們豈不是因缺少智慧而死亡﹖

Is not their tent-rope within them, torn away? They die, disrobed of wisdom!