Job 21
1 Then Job answered,
Respondens autem Job, dixit:
2 “Listen diligently to my speech. Let this be your consolation.
Audite, quæso, sermones meos, et agite pœnitentiam.
3 Allow me, and I also will speak. After I have spoken, mock on.
Sustinete me, et ego loquar: et post mea, si videbitur, verba, ridete.
4 As for me, is my complaint to man? Why should not I be impatient?
Numquid contra hominem disputatio mea est, ut merito non debeam contristari?
5 Look at me, and be astonished. Lay your hand on your mouth.
Attendite me et obstupescite, et superponite digitum ori vestro.
6 When I remember, I am troubled. Horror takes hold of my flesh.
Et ego, quando recordatus fuero, pertimesco, et concutit carnem meam tremor.
7 “Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, and grow mighty in power?
Quare ergo impii vivunt, sublevati sunt, confortatique divitiis?
8 Their child is established with them in their sight, their offspring before their eyes.
Semen eorum permanet coram eis: propinquorum turba et nepotum in conspectu eorum.
9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
Domus eorum securæ sunt et pacatæ, et non est virga Dei super illos.
10 Their bulls breed without fail. Their cows calve, and do not miscarry.
Bos eorum concepit, et non abortivit: vacca peperit, et non est privata fœtu suo.
11 They send out their little ones like a flock. Their children dance.
Egrediuntur quasi greges parvuli eorum, et infantes eorum exultant lusibus.
12 They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
Tenent tympanum et citharam, et gaudent ad sonitum organi.
Ducunt in bonis dies suos, et in puncto ad inferna descendunt. (Sheol h7585)
14 They tell God, ‘Depart from us, for we do not want to know about your ways.
Qui dixerunt Deo: Recede a nobis, et scientiam viarum tuarum nolumus.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?’
Quis est Omnipotens, ut serviamus ei? et quid nobis prodest si oraverimus illum?
16 Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
Verumtamen quia non sunt in manu eorum bona sua, consilium impiorum longe sit a me.
17 “How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out, that their calamity comes on them, that God distributes sorrows in his anger?
Quoties lucerna impiorum extinguetur, et superveniet eis inundatio, et dolores dividet furoris sui?
18 How often is it that they are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away?
Erunt sicut paleæ ante faciem venti, et sicut favilla quam turbo dispergit.
19 You say, ‘God lays up his iniquity for his children.’ Let him recompense it to himself, that he may know it.
Deus servabit filiis illius dolorem patris, et cum reddiderit, tunc sciet.
20 Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
Videbunt oculi ejus interfectionem suam, et de furore Omnipotentis bibet.
21 For what does he care for his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?
Quid enim ad eum pertinet de domo sua post se, et si numerus mensium ejus dimidietur?
22 “Shall any teach God knowledge, since he judges those who are high?
Numquid Deus docebit quispiam scientiam, qui excelsos judicat?
23 One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
Iste moritur robustus et sanus, dives et felix:
24 His pails are full of milk. The marrow of his bones is moistened.
viscera ejus plena sunt adipe, et medullis ossa illius irrigantur:
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul, and never tastes of good.
alius vero moritur in amaritudine animæ absque ullis opibus:
26 They lie down alike in the dust. The worm covers them.
et tamen simul in pulvere dormient, et vermes operient eos.
27 “Behold, I know your thoughts, the plans with which you would wrong me.
Certe novi cogitationes vestras, et sententias contra me iniquas.
28 For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’
Dicitis enim: Ubi est domus principis? et ubi tabernacula impiorum?
29 Have not you asked wayfaring men? Do not you know their evidences,
Interrogate quemlibet de viatoribus, et hæc eadem illum intelligere cognoscetis:
30 that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity, that they are led out to the day of wrath?
quia in diem perditionis servatur malus, et ad diem furoris ducetur.
31 Who will declare his way to his face? Who will repay him what he has done?
Quis arguet coram eo viam ejus? et quæ fecit, quis reddet illi?
32 Yet he will be borne to the grave. Men will keep watch over the tomb.
Ipse ad sepulchra ducetur, et in congerie mortuorum vigilabit.
33 The clods of the valley will be sweet to him. All men will draw after him, as there were innumerable before him.
Dulcis fuit glareis Cocyti, et post se omnem hominem trahet, et ante se innumerabiles.
34 So how can you comfort me with nonsense, because in your answers there remains only falsehood?”
Quomodo igitur consolamini me frustra, cum responsio vestra repugnare ostensa sit veritati?
