< Job 23 >
1 Bvt Iob answered and sayd,
Respondens autem Job, ait:
2 Though my talke be this day in bitternes, and my plague greater then my groning,
Nunc quoque in amaritudine est sermo meus, et manus plagæ meæ aggravata est super gemitum meum.
3 Would God yet I knew how to finde him, I would enter vnto his place.
Quis mihi tribuat ut cognoscam et inveniam illum, et veniam usque ad solium ejus?
4 I would pleade the cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
Ponam coram eo judicium, et os meum replebo increpationibus:
5 I would knowe the wordes, that he would answere me, and would vnderstand what he would say vnto me.
ut sciam verba quæ mihi respondeat, et intelligam quid loquatur mihi.
6 Would he plead against me with his great power? No, but he would put strength in me.
Nolo multa fortitudine contendat mecum, nec magnitudinis suæ mole me premat.
7 There the righteous might reason with him, so I shoulde be deliuered for euer from my Iudge.
Proponat æquitatem contra me, et perveniat ad victoriam judicium meum.
8 Behold, if I go to the East, he is not there: if to the West, yet I can not perceiue him:
Si ad orientem iero, non apparet; si ad occidentem, non intelligam eum.
9 If to the North where he worketh, yet I cannot see him: he wil hide himselfe in the South, and I cannot beholde him.
Si ad sinistram, quid agam? non apprehendam eum; si me vertam ad dexteram, non videbo illum.
10 But he knoweth my way, and trieth mee, and I shall come forth like the gold.
Ipse vero scit viam meam, et probavit me quasi aurum quod per ignem transit.
11 My foote hath followed his steps: his way haue I kept, and haue not declined.
Vestigia ejus secutus est pes meus: viam ejus custodivi, et non declinavi ex ea.
12 Neyther haue I departed from the commandement of his lippes, and I haue esteemed the words of his mouth more then mine appointed foode.
A mandatis labiorum ejus non recessi, et in sinu meo abscondi verba oris ejus.
13 Yet he is in one minde, and who can turne him? yea, he doeth what his minde desireth.
Ipse enim solus est, et nemo avertere potest cogitationem ejus: et anima ejus quodcumque voluit, hoc fecit.
14 For he will performe that, which is decreed of me, and many such things are with him.
Cum expleverit in me voluntatem suam, et alia multa similia præsto sunt ei.
15 Therefore I am troubled at his presence, and in considering it, I am afraid of him.
Et idcirco a facie ejus turbatus sum, et considerans eum, timore sollicitor.
16 For God hath softened mine heart, and the Almightie hath troubled me.
Deus mollivit cor meum, et Omnipotens conturbavit me.
17 For I am not cut off in darknesse, but he hath hid the darkenesse from my face.
Non enim perii propter imminentes tenebras, nec faciem meam operuit caligo.