Job 21
1 Then Job answered:
respondens autem Iob dixit
2 “Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me.
audite quaeso sermones meos et agetis paenitentiam
3 Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
sustinete me ut et ego loquar et post mea si videbitur verba ridete
4 Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?
numquid contra hominem disputatio mea est ut merito non debeam contristari
5 Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.
adtendite me et obstupescite et superponite digitum ori vestro
6 When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.
et ego quando recordatus fuero pertimesco et concutit carnem meam tremor
7 Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
quare ergo impii vivunt sublevati sunt confortatique divitiis
8 Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.
semen eorum permanet coram eis propinquorum turba et nepotum in conspectu eorum
9 Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
domus eorum securae sunt et pacatae et non est virga Dei super illos
10 Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.
bos eorum concepit et non abortit vacca peperit et non est privata fetu suo
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
egrediuntur quasi greges parvuli eorum et infantes eorum exultant lusibus
12 singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute.
tenent tympanum et citharam et gaudent ad sonitum organi
ducunt in bonis dies suos et in puncto ad inferna descendunt (Sheol h7585)
14 Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.
qui dixerunt Deo recede a nobis et scientiam viarum tuarum nolumus
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
quid est Omnipotens ut serviamus ei et quid nobis prodest si oraverimus illum
16 Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
verumtamen quia non sunt in manu eorum bona sua consilium impiorum longe sit a me
17 How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?
quotiens lucerna impiorum extinguetur et superveniet eis inundatio et dolores dividet furoris sui
18 Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
erunt sicut paleae ante faciem venti et sicut favilla quam turbo dispergit
19 It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.
Deus servabit filiis illius dolorem patris et cum reddiderit tunc sciet
20 Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
videbunt oculi eius interfectionem suam et de furore Omnipotentis bibet
21 For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out?
quid enim ad eum pertinet de domo sua post se et si numerus mensuum eius dimidietur
22 Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high?
numquid Deum quispiam docebit scientiam qui excelsos iudicat
23 One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease.
iste moritur robustus et sanus dives et felix
24 His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow.
viscera eius plena sunt adipe et medullis ossa illius inrigantur
25 Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity.
alius vero moritur in amaritudine animae absque ullis opibus
26 But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.
et tamen simul in pulverem dormient et vermes operient eos
27 Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
certe novi cogitationes vestras et sententias contra me iniquas
28 For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’
dicitis enim ubi est domus principis et ubi tabernacula impiorum
29 Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports?
interrogate quemlibet de viatoribus et haec eadem eum intellegere cognoscetis
30 Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
quia in diem perditionis servabitur malus et ad diem furoris ducitur
31 Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done?
quis arguet coram eo viam eius et quae fecit quis reddet illi
32 He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.
ipse ad sepulchra ducetur et in congerie mortuorum vigilabit
33 The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.
dulcis fuit glareis Cocyti et post se omnem hominem trahet et ante se innumerabiles
34 So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”
quomodo igitur consolamini me frustra cum responsio vestra repugnare ostensa sit veritati
