Job 12
1 Then Job said [to his three friends],
約伯回答說：
2 “You (talk as though/You think) [SAR] that you are the people [whom everyone should listen to], and that when you die, there will be no more wise people.
的確，只有你們是有知識的子民；那麼，你們一死，智慧也與你們一同喪亡!
3 But I have as much good sense as you do; I am (not less wise than/certainly as wise as [LIT]) you. Certainly everyone knows [RHQ] all that you have said.
其實，我和你們有同樣的心理，我並不亞於你們! 誰不知道這些事﹖
4 My friends all laugh at me now. Previously I habitually requested God to help me, and he answered/helped me. I am righteous, a very godly man [DOU], but everyone laughs at me.
我這呼籲天主而蒙應允的人，卻被他的友人所嘲笑，無辜的義人卻成了笑柄。
5 Those [like you] who have no troubles make fun of me; they cause those [like me] who are already suffering to have more troubles.
幸運的人心想：遭難的人應受蔑視，失足的人應再予以打擊。
6 Bandits live peacefully, and no one threatens those who cause God to become angry; their own strength is the god [that they worship].
但是，強盜的帳幕竟能安全，觸怒天主的人，以勢力為神的人卻享平安。
7 “But ask the wild animals [what they know about God], and [if they could speak] they would teach you. [If you could] ask the birds, they would tell you.
請你詢問走獸，牠們也會開導你；詢問天上的飛鳥，牠們也會告訴你；
8 [If you could] ask the creatures [that crawl] on the ground, or the fish in the sea, they would tell you [about God].
地上的爬蟲也會教訓你，海中的魚族也會給你說明。
9 All of them certainly know [RHQ] that it is Yahweh who has made them with his hands.
牠們中有誰不知道：是天主的手創造了這一切﹖
10 He directs the lives of all living creatures; he gives breath to all [us] humans [to enable us to remain alive].
因為一切活物的生魂，一切血肉之人的靈魂，都握在他手中。
11 And when we [SYN] hear what other people [like you] say, we [RHQ] think carefully about what they say [to determine what is good and what is bad], like we [SYN] taste food [to determine what is good and what is bad].
耳朵不是為明辨言語，口腔不是為辨嘗食物嗎﹖
12 Old people are [often] very wise, and because of having lived many years, they understand much,
白髮老人是有智慧的，年紀大者是有見識的；
13 but God is wise and very powerful; he has good sense and understands [everything].
但智慧和能力同在天主內，智慧與見識是天主所有。
14 If he tears [something] down, no one can rebuild it; if he puts someone in prison, no one can open [the prison doors to allow that person to escape].
他若拆毀，人不能再建；他若拘禁，人不得開釋。
15 When he prevents rain from falling, everything dries up. When he causes a lot of rain to fall, [the result is that] there are floods.
他若制水，水便乾涸；他若放水，水便沖毀大地。
16 He is the one who is truly strong and wise; he rules over those who deceive others and those whom they deceive.
力量與才能，為他所有；受騙者與騙人者，都屬於他。
17 He [sometimes] causes [the king’s] officials to no longer be wise, and he causes judges to become foolish.
他使謀士糊塗，使判官愚蠢；
18 He takes from kings the robes that they wear and puts loincloths around their waists, [causing them to become slaves].
他解除君王所繫的玉帶，將繩索捆在他們的腰間；
19 He takes from priests the sacred clothes that they wear, [with the result that they no longer can do their work], and takes power from those who rule others.
他使司祭赤足而行，推倒掌握大權者；
20 He [sometimes] causes those whom others trust to be unable to speak, and he causes old men to no longer have good sense.
奪去忠貞者的辯才，剝去年老者的理智：
21 He causes those who have authority to be despised, and he causes those who are powerful to no longer have any power/strength.
使貴人備受侮辱，使勇士的腰帶鬆弛；
22 He causes things that are hidden in the darkness to be revealed.
使隱秘的事由暗處彰顯，使黑暗進入光明；
23 He causes some nations to become very great, and [later] he destroys them; he causes the territory of some nations to become much larger, and [later] he causes them to be defeated and their people to be scattered.
使邦國興起而又滅亡，使民族強大而又消散；
24 He causes [some] rulers to become foolish/stupid, and then he causes them to wander around, lost, in an barren desert.
剝去國君的理智，使他們漂泊於無路的荒野中，
25 They grope around in the darkness, without any light, and he causes them to stagger like [SIM] people who are drunk.”
在無光的黑暗中摸索，踉蹌猶如醉漢。
