約伯記 4
1 特曼人厄里法次開始說：
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 人若和你講話，你能忍受嗎﹖但誰又能忍住不說﹖
If anyone tries to speak with you, will you be impatient? But who can stop himself from speaking?
3 看，你曾勸戒過許多人，堅固過軟弱無能的人；
See, you have instructed many; you have strengthened weak hands.
4 你的話扶起了跌倒的人，堅固了膝弱無力的人；
Your words have supported him who was falling; you have made feeble knees firm.
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 trouble has come to you, and you are weary; it touches you, and you are troubled.
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 your fear your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?
7 請想：那有無辜者喪亡﹖那有正直者消逝﹖
Think about this, please: Who has ever perished when innocent? Or when were the upright people ever 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。
According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap it.
9 天主一噓氣，他們即滅亡；一發怒氣，他們即消失。
By the breath of God they perish; by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
10 獅吼豹嗥完全止息，幼獅的牙齒也被打碎；
The roaring of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions—they are broken.
11 壯獅因缺獵物而滅絕，牝獅幼子各自東西離散。
The old lion perishes for lack of victims; the cubs of the lioness are scattered everywhere.
12 我竊聽到一句話，我耳聽見細語聲。
Now a certain matter was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a whisper about it.
13 當人沉睡時，夜夢多幻象；
Then came thoughts from visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on people.
14 我恐怖戰慄，全身骨頭發抖。
It was at night when fear and trembling came upon me, and all my bones shook.
15 寒風掠過我面，使我毛髮悚然。
Then a spirit passed before my face, and the hair of my flesh 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：
The spirit stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, and I heard a voice that said,
17 人豈能在天主前自以為義﹖在造他者前，自以為潔﹖
“Can a mortal man be more righteous than God? Can 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，
See, if God puts no trust in his servants; if he accuses his angels of folly,
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 is this true of those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed sooner than a moth?
20 晨昏間即化為齏粉，永遠消亡而無人一顧。
Between morning and evening they are destroyed; they perish forever without anyone noticing them.
21 幕索如已自斷，他們豈不是因缺少智慧而死亡﹖
Are not their tent cords plucked up among them? They die; they die without wisdom.
