Job 21
1 Then Job replied,
Respondens autem Job, dixit:
2 “Listen to what I say, all [three] of you; that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
[Audite, quæso, sermones meos, et agite pœnitentiam.
3 Be patient with me, and allow me to speak. Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
Sustinete me, et ego loquar: et post mea, si videbitur, verba, ridete.
4 “It is certainly not [RHQ] people against whom I am complaining, [but God] And it is certainly [RHQ] right for me to be impatient!
Numquid contra hominem disputatio mea est, ut merito non debeam contristari?
5 Look at me! Does what you see not cause you to be appalled and to put your hands over your mouths [and say no more]?
Attendite me et obstupescite, et superponite digitum ori vestro.
6 When I think about [what has happened to me], I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
Et ego, quando recordatus fuero, pertimesco, et concutit carnem meam tremor.
7 “[But let me ask this: ] ‘Why do wicked people continue to live, and become prosperous, and not die until they are very old?’
Quare ergo impii vivunt, sublevati sunt, confortatique divitiis?
8 They have their children around them, and they watch them while they [grow up and] start to live in their own houses, and they enjoy their grandchildren.
Semen eorum permanet coram eis: propinquorum turba et nepotum in conspectu eorum.
9 Wicked people live in their own houses without being afraid, and God does not punish [MTY] them.
Domus eorum securæ sunt et pacatæ, et non est virga Dei super illos.
10 Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully, and the cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
Bos eorum concepit, et non abortivit: vacca peperit, et non est privata fœtu suo.
11 Wicked people send their young children outside [to play], and the children play [happily] like [SIM] lambs [in a pasture].
Egrediuntur quasi greges parvuli eorum, et infantes eorum exultant lusibus.
12 Some children dance and sing, while others shake tambourines and play lyres, and they are happy when they hear people playing flutes.
Tenent tympanum et citharam, et gaudent ad sonitum organi.
13 Wicked people enjoy having good things all the time that they are alive, and they die quietly/peacefully and go down to the place of the dead. (Sheol h7585)
Ducunt in bonis dies suos, et in puncto ad inferna descendunt. (Sheol h7585)
14 While they are alive, they say to God, ‘Do not bother us; we do not want to know how you want us to conduct our lives!
Qui dixerunt Deo: Recede a nobis, et scientiam viarum tuarum nolumus.
15 Why do you, Almighty God, think that we should serve you? (What advantage do we get if we pray to you?/It is useless for us to pray to you.) [RHQ]’
Quis est Omnipotens, ut serviamus ei? et quid nobis prodest si oraverimus illum?
16 Think about it: Wicked people think that it is because of what they have done that they have become prosperous, but I do not understand why they think like that.
Verumtamen quia non sunt in manu eorum bona sua, consilium impiorum longe sit a me.
17 (“How often does it happen that wicked people die [MET] before they are old?/Very seldom do wicked people die [MET] before they are old.) [RHQ] (Do they ever experience disasters?/They seldom experience disasters.) [RHQ] (Does God ever punish them because of being very angry with them?/God never punishes them because of being very angry with them.) [RHQ]
Quoties lucerna impiorum extinguetur, et superveniet eis inundatio, et dolores dividet furoris sui?
18 [He does not blow] them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
Erunt sicut paleæ ante faciem venti, et sicut favilla quam turbo dispergit.
19 You say, ‘When people have committed sins, God waits and punishes their children because of those sins;’ but [I say that] God should punish those who sin, [not their children, ] in order that the sinners will know [that it is because of their own sins that they are being punished].
Deus servabit filiis illius dolorem patris, et cum reddiderit, tunc sciet.
20 I hope/wish that wicked people will experience themselves being destroyed, that they will experience being punished by an angry Almighty God.
Videbunt oculi ejus interfectionem suam, et de furore Omnipotentis bibet.
21 After wicked people are dead, they are not at all concerned [RHQ] about what happens to their families [MTY].
Quid enim ad eum pertinet de domo sua post se, et si numerus mensium ejus dimidietur?
22 “Since God judges [everyone, ] even those that are in heaven, (who can teach God anything?/certainly no one can teach God anything.) [RHQ]
Numquid Deus docebit quispiam scientiam, qui excelsos judicat?
23 Some people die while they are very healthy, while they are peaceful, when they are not afraid of anything.
Iste moritur robustus et sanus, dives et felix:
24 Their bodies are fat; their bones are strong.
viscera ejus plena sunt adipe, et medullis ossa illius irrigantur:
25 Other people die being very miserable; they have never experienced good things happening to them.
alius vero moritur in amaritudine animæ absque ullis opibus:
26 But both rich and poor people die and are buried, and maggots eat their bodies. [Everyone dies, so it is clear that dying is not always the punishment for being wicked].
et tamen simul in pulvere dormient, et vermes operient eos.
27 “Listen, I know what you [three] are thinking. I know the evil things that you plan to do to me.
Certe novi cogitationes vestras, et sententias contra me iniquas.
28 You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living? The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’
Dicitis enim: Ubi est domus principis? et ubi tabernacula impiorum?
29 But have you never inquired of people who travel much? Do you not believe their reports about what they have seen,
Interrogate quemlibet de viatoribus, et hæc eadem illum intelligere cognoscetis:
30 that wicked people usually do not suffer at the time when there are great disasters; that wicked people are the ones who are rescued when God is angry [and punishes people] [MTY]?
quia in diem perditionis servatur malus, et ad diem furoris ducetur.
31 There is no one [RHQ] who accuses wicked people, and there is no one who (pays them back/gives them the punishment that they deserve) for all the evil things that they have done.
Quis arguet coram eo viam ejus? et quæ fecit, quis reddet illi?
32 The corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves, and people are put there to guard those graves.
Ipse ad sepulchra ducetur, et in congerie mortuorum vigilabit.
33 A huge number [HYP] of people go to the grave site. Some go in front of the procession and some come behind. And the clods of dirt thrown on the graves of those wicked people who have died are like a nice blanket.
Dulcis fuit glareis Cocyti, et post se omnem hominem trahet, et ante se innumerabiles.
34 “So how can you console me by talking nonsense? Every reply that you make is full of lies!”
Quomodo igitur consolamini me frustra, cum responsio vestra repugnare ostensa sit veritati?]
