Ἰώβ 12
1 ὑπολαβὼν δὲ Ιωβ λέγει
Then Job said [to his three friends],
2 εἶτα ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἄνθρωποι ἦ μεθ’ ὑμῶν τελευτήσει σοφία
“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.
3 κἀμοὶ μὲν καρδία καθ’ ὑμᾶς ἐστιν
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.
4 δίκαιος γὰρ ἀνὴρ καὶ ἄμεμπτος ἐγενήθη εἰς χλεύασμα
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.
5 εἰς χρόνον γὰρ τακτὸν ἡτοίμαστο πεσεῖν ὑπὸ ἄλλους οἴκους τε αὐτοῦ ἐκπορθεῖσθαι ὑπὸ ἀνόμων
Those [like you] who have no troubles make fun of me; they cause those [like me] who are already suffering to have more troubles.
6 οὐ μὴν δὲ ἀλλὰ μηδεὶς πεποιθέτω πονηρὸς ὢν ἀθῷος ἔσεσθαι ὅσοι παροργίζουσιν τὸν κύριον ὡς οὐχὶ καὶ ἔτασις αὐτῶν ἔσται
Bandits live peacefully, and no one threatens those who cause God to become angry; their own strength is the god [that they worship].
7 ἀλλὰ δὴ ἐπερώτησον τετράποδα ἐάν σοι εἴπωσιν πετεινὰ δὲ οὐρανοῦ ἐάν σοι ἀπαγγείλωσιν
“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.
8 ἐκδιήγησαι δὲ γῇ ἐάν σοι φράσῃ καὶ ἐξηγήσονταί σοι οἱ ἰχθύες τῆς θαλάσσης
[If you could] ask the creatures [that crawl] on the ground, or the fish in the sea, they would tell you [about God].
9 τίς οὐκ ἔγνω ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις ὅτι χεὶρ κυρίου ἐποίησεν ταῦτα
All of them certainly know [RHQ] that it is Yahweh who has made them with his hands.
10 εἰ μὴ ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ ψυχὴ πάντων τῶν ζώντων καὶ πνεῦμα παντὸς ἀνθρώπου
He directs the lives of all living creatures; he gives breath to all [us] humans [to enable us to remain alive].
11 οὖς μὲν γὰρ ῥήματα διακρίνει λάρυγξ δὲ σῖτα γεύεται
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].
12 ἐν πολλῷ χρόνῳ σοφία ἐν δὲ πολλῷ βίῳ ἐπιστήμη
Old people are [often] very wise, and because of having lived many years, they understand much,
13 παρ’ αὐτῷ σοφία καὶ δύναμις αὐτῷ βουλὴ καὶ σύνεσις
but God is wise and very powerful; he has good sense and understands [everything].
14 ἐὰν καταβάλῃ τίς οἰκοδομήσει ἐὰν κλείσῃ κατὰ ἀνθρώπων τίς ἀνοίξει
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].
15 ἐὰν κωλύσῃ τὸ ὥδωρ ξηρανεῖ τὴν γῆν ἐὰν δὲ ἐπαφῇ ἀπώλεσεν αὐτὴν καταστρέψας
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.
16 παρ’ αὐτῷ κράτος καὶ ἰσχύς αὐτῷ ἐπιστήμη καὶ σύνεσις
He is the one who is truly strong and wise; he rules over those who deceive others and those whom they deceive.
17 διάγων βουλευτὰς αἰχμαλώτους κριτὰς δὲ γῆς ἐξέστησεν
He [sometimes] causes [the king’s] officials to no longer be wise, and he causes judges to become foolish.
18 καθιζάνων βασιλεῖς ἐπὶ θρόνους καὶ περιέδησεν ζώνῃ ὀσφύας αὐτῶν
He takes from kings the robes that they wear and puts loincloths around their waists, [causing them to become slaves].
19 ἐξαποστέλλων ἱερεῖς αἰχμαλώτους δυνάστας δὲ γῆς κατέστρεψεν
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.
20 διαλλάσσων χείλη πιστῶν σύνεσιν δὲ πρεσβυτέρων ἔγνω
He [sometimes] causes those whom others trust to be unable to speak, and he causes old men to no longer have good sense.
21 ἐκχέων ἀτιμίαν ἐπ’ ἄρχοντας ταπεινοὺς δὲ ἰάσατο
He causes those who have authority to be despised, and he causes those who are powerful to no longer have any power/strength.
22 ἀνακαλύπτων βαθέα ἐκ σκότους ἐξήγαγεν δὲ εἰς φῶς σκιὰν θανάτου
He causes things that are hidden in the darkness to be revealed.
23 πλανῶν ἔθνη καὶ ἀπολλύων αὐτά καταστρωννύων ἔθνη καὶ καθοδηγῶν αὐτά
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.
24 διαλλάσσων καρδίας ἀρχόντων γῆς ἐπλάνησεν δὲ αὐτοὺς ὁδῷ ᾗ οὐκ ᾔδεισαν
He causes [some] rulers to become foolish/stupid, and then he causes them to wander around, lost, in an barren desert.
25 ψηλαφήσαισαν σκότος καὶ μὴ φῶς πλανηθείησαν δὲ ὥσπερ ὁ μεθύων
They grope around in the darkness, without any light, and he causes them to stagger like [SIM] people who are drunk.”
