Job 23
1 Respondens autem Iob, ait:
Job replied,
2 Nunc quoque in amaritudine est sermo meus, et manus plagæ meæ aggravata est super gemitum meum.
“Just the same, my complaints today remain bitter. In spite of my groaning he is still punishing me.
3 Quis mihi tribuat ut cognoscam et inveniam illum, et veniam usque ad solium eius?
If only I knew where I could find him so I could go to where he sits in judgment.
4 Ponam coram eo iudicium, et os meum replebo increpationibus,
There I would lay out my case before him and present all my arguments in full.
5 Ut sciam verba, quæ mihi respondeat, et intelligam quid loquatur mihi.
I would discover how he would answer me and learn what he has to say to me.
6 Nolo multa fortitudine contendat mecum, nec magnitudinis suæ mole me premat.
Would he fight against me using his mighty power? No, he would pay attention to what I have to say.
7 Proponat æquitatem contra me, et perveniat ad victoriam iudicium meum.
There a good person could reason with him, and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.
8 Si ad Orientem iero, non apparet: si ad Occidentem, non intelligam eum.
If I go to the east, he's not there; if I go the west, I don't find him.
9 Si ad sinistram, quid agam? non apprehendam eum: si me vertam ad dexteram, non videbo illum.
If he's working in the north, I don't perceive him; if he's moving south, I don't see him.
10 Ipse vero scit viam meam, et probavit me quasi aurum, quod per ignem transit:
Yet he always knows where I'm going. When he has proved me, I will come out shining like gold.
11 Vestigia eius secutus est pes meus, viam eius custodivi, et non declinavi ex ea.
I have kept in step with him; I have followed his way without turning aside.
12 A mandatis labiorum eius non recessi, et in sinu meo abscondi verba oris eius.
I have not neglected his commands, for I value what he has told me to do more than the food I eat every day.
13 Ipse enim solus est, et nemo avertere potest cogitationem eius: et anima eius quodcumque voluit, hoc fecit.
But God is unchangeable—who can turn him from his purposes? He does whatever he wants to do.
14 Cum expleverit in me voluntatem suam, et alia multa similia præsto sunt ei.
So he will finish whatever he has planned for me—and he has many plans for me.
15 Et idcirco a facie eius turbatus sum, et considerans eum, timore sollicitor.
That's why I'm terrified at meeting him; when I think of him I tremble with fear.
16 Deus mollivit cor meum, et Omnipotens conturbavit me.
God has made me faint-hearted; the Almighty has scared me to death.
17 Non enim perii propter imminentes tenebras, nec faciem meam operuit caligo.
Yet I'm still here despite the dark—even though I can't see through the utter darkness.
