Job 33
1 [Audi igitur, Job, eloquia mea, et omnes sermones meos ausculta.
“But now, O Job, hear my speech, and listen to all my words.
2 Ecce aperui os meum: loquatur lingua mea in faucibus meis.
Behold, I will open my mouth; my address is on the tip of my tongue.
3 Simplici corde meo sermones mei, et sententiam puram labia mea loquentur.
My words are from an upright heart, and my lips speak sincerely what I know.
4 Spiritus Dei fecit me, et spiraculum Omnipotentis vivificavit me.
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5 Si potes, responde mihi, et adversus faciem meam consiste.
Refute me if you can; prepare your case and confront me.
6 Ecce, et me sicut et te fecit Deus, et de eodem luto ego quoque formatus sum.
I am just like you before God; I was also formed from clay.
7 Verumtamen miraculum meum non te terreat, et eloquentia mea non sit tibi gravis.
Surely no fear of me should terrify you; nor will my hand be heavy upon you.
8 Dixisti ergo in auribus meis, et vocem verborum tuorum audivi:
Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard these very words:
9 Mundus sum ego, et absque delicto: immaculatus, et non est iniquitas in me.
‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, with no iniquity in me.
10 Quia querelas in me reperit, ideo arbitratus est me inimicum sibi.
Yet God finds occasions against me; He counts me as His enemy.
11 Posuit in nervo pedes meos; custodivit omnes semitas meas.
He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches over all my paths.’
12 Hoc est ergo in quo non es justificatus: respondebo tibi, quia major sit Deus homine.
Behold, you are not right in this matter. I will answer you, for God is greater than man.
13 Adversus eum contendis, quod non ad omnia verba responderit tibi?
Why do you complain to Him that He answers nothing a man asks?
14 Semel loquitur Deus, et secundo idipsum non repetit.
For God speaks in one way and in another, yet no one notices.
15 Per somnium, in visione nocturna, quando irruit sopor super homines, et dormiunt in lectulo,
In a dream, in a vision in the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they slumber on their beds,
16 tunc aperit aures virorum, et erudiens eos instruit disciplina,
He opens their ears and terrifies them with warnings
17 ut avertat hominem ab his quæ facit, et liberet eum de superbia,
to turn a man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride,
18 eruens animam ejus a corruptione, et vitam illius ut non transeat in gladium.
to preserve his soul from the Pit and his life from perishing by the sword.
19 Increpat quoque per dolorem in lectulo, et omnia ossa ejus marcescere facit.
A man is also chastened on his bed with pain and constant distress in his bones,
20 Abominabilis ei fit in vita sua panis, et animæ illius cibus ante desiderabilis.
so that he detests his bread, and his soul loathes his favorite food.
21 Tabescet caro ejus, et ossa, quæ tecta fuerant, nudabuntur.
His flesh wastes away from sight, and his hidden bones protrude.
22 Appropinquavit corruptioni anima ejus, et vita illius mortiferis.
He draws near to the Pit, and his life to the messengers of death.
23 Si fuerit pro eo angelus loquens, unus de millibus, ut annuntiet hominis æquitatem,
Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
24 miserebitur ejus, et dicet: Libera eum, ut non descendat in corruptionem: inveni in quo ei propitier.
to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the Pit; I have found his ransom,’
25 Consumpta est caro ejus a suppliciis: revertatur ad dies adolescentiæ suæ.
then his flesh is refreshed like a child’s; he returns to the days of his youth.
26 Deprecabitur Deum, et placabilis ei erit: et videbit faciem ejus in jubilo, et reddet homini justitiam suam.
He prays to God and finds favor; he sees God’s face and shouts for joy, and God restores His righteousness to that man.
27 Respiciet homines, et dicet: Peccavi, et vere deliqui, et ut eram dignus, non recepi.
Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved.
28 Liberavit animam suam, ne pergeret in interitum, sed vivens lucem videret.
He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit, and I will live to see the light.’
29 Ecce hæc omnia operatur Deus tribus vicibus per singulos,
Behold, all these things God does to a man, two or even three times,
30 ut revocet animas eorum a corruptione, et illuminet luce viventium.
to bring back his soul from the Pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
31 Attende, Job, et audi me: et tace, dum ego loquor.
Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.
32 Si autem habes quod loquaris, responde mihi: loquere, volo enim te apparere justum.
But if you have something to say, answer me; speak up, for I would like to vindicate you.
33 Quod si non habes, audi me: tace, et docebo te sapientiam.]
But if not, then listen to me; be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.”
