< Job 21 >
1 And Job answers and says:
約伯回答說:
2 “Hear my word diligently, And this is your consolation.
你們且聽一聽我的話! 這也算是你們給我的安慰。
3 Bear with me, and I speak, And after my speaking—you may deride.
請讓我發言,我說完後,任你們笑罵。
4 [Is] my complaint [against] man? And if [so], why may my temper not become short?
我豈是抱怨人﹖我失了忍耐,難道沒有理由﹖
5 Turn to me, and be astonished, And put hand to mouth.
你們注意聽我,必要吃驚,且要用手堵住口。
6 Indeed, if I have remembered, then I have been troubled. And my flesh has taken fright.
甚至我一回想,我就恐怖,全身戰慄。
7 Why do the wicked live? They have become old, Indeed, they have been mighty in wealth.
惡人為何享受高壽而勢力強大﹖
8 Their seed is established, Before their face with them, And their offspring before their eyes.
他們在世時,子孫昌盛,親眼看見子子孫孫。
9 Their houses [are] peace without fear, Nor [is] a rod of God on them.
他們的住宅平安,無所畏懼,天主的棍杖也不加在他們身上。
10 His bullock breeds without fail. His cow brings forth safely, and does not miscarry.
他們的公牛交尾,無不成功;母牛產子,決無流產。
11 They send forth their sucklings as a flock, And their children skip,
他們使孩子跑出像羊群,子女跳躍如麋鹿。
12 They lift [themselves] up at timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of a pipe.
他們伴著手鼓與豎琴歌唱,隨著笛聲歡呼。
13 They wear out their days in good, And in a moment go down [to] Sheol. (Sheol )
他們幸福地度過天年,平安地降入陰府。 (Sheol )
14 And they say to God, Turn aside from us, And the knowledge of Your ways We have not desired.
但他們曾向天主說:「離開我們! 我們不願知道你的道路。
15 What [is] the Mighty One that we serve Him? And what do we profit when we meet with Him?
全能者是誰,竟叫我們事奉他﹖我們祈求他有什麼好處﹖」
16 Behold, their good [is] not in their hand (The counsel of the wicked Has been far from me).
看啊! 他們的幸福,豈不在他們掌握中﹖惡人的思想豈不離他很遠﹖
17 How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished, And their calamity comes on them? He apportions pangs in His anger.
惡人的燈有多少次熄滅過﹖災禍有多少次降在他們身上﹖天主何嘗因忿怒而消滅他們﹖
18 They are as straw before wind, And as chaff a windstorm has stolen away,
使他們好像被風吹的碎湝﹖好像被暴風捲去的糠秕﹖
19 God lays up for his sons his sorrow, He gives repayment to him—and he knows.
難道天主要向他的兒子討罪債﹖其實應向他本人報復,叫他覺悟!
20 His own eyes see his destruction, And he drinks of the wrath of the Mighty.
叫他親眼看見自己的毀滅,親自飲下全能者的義怒之杯。
21 For what [is] his delight in his house after him, And the number of his months cut off?
他既逝去,他本人的歲月已絕,他的家庭對他還有什麼相干﹖
22 Does [one] teach knowledge to God, Since He judges [those] on high?
天主既審判天上者,人豈能教給他什麼智識﹖
23 This [one] dies in his perfect strength, Wholly at ease and quiet.
有人到死一無所缺,享盡了平安幸福。
24 His breasts have been full of milk, And marrow moistens his bones.
他的腰部充滿脂肪,他的骨髓潤澤豐盈;
25 And this [one] dies with a bitter soul, And has not eaten with gladness.
但有人卻至死心靈酸苦,一生毫無福樂;
26 Together they lie down on the dust, And the worm covers them over.
他們卻一同埋於塵土,為蛆蟲所掩蓋。
27 Behold, I have known your thoughts, And the schemes against me you do wrongfully.
我確知你們的思想,以及對我所籌劃的陰謀。
28 For you say, Where [is] the house of the noble? And where the tent—the dwelling places of the wicked?
你們要問:「霸王的家在那裏﹖惡人住的帳幕在何處﹖」
29 Have you not asked those passing by the way? And do you not know their signs?
你們怎麼不問過路的人﹖難道你們不承認他們的證據﹖
30 That the wicked is spared to a day of calamity. They are brought to a day of wrath.
「惡人在毀滅之日不受害,在憤怒之日會得救。」
31 Who declares his way to his face? And [for] that which he has done, Who gives repayment to him?
他的動作,誰敢當面指摘﹖他的行為,誰能報復﹖
32 And he is brought to the graves, And a watch is kept over the heap.
他最後被抬入墳墓,且親自守護自己的墓地。
33 The clods of the valley have been sweet to him, And he draws every man after him, And there is no numbering before him.
谷中的土壤,他感覺甘美;眾人都跟他而去,但在他前面的人,更不可勝數。
34 And how do you comfort me [with] vanity, And trespass has been left in your answers?”
你們為何說空話來安慰我﹖你們的答話顯然只是欺詐!