< Job 4 >
1 Respondens autem Eliphaz Themanites, dixit:
THEN Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 Si cœperimus loqui tibi, forsitan moleste accipies, sed conceptum sermonem tenere quis poterit?
If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?
3 Ecce docuisti multos, et manus lassas roborasti:
Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
4 Vacillantes confirmaverunt sermones tui, et genua trementia confortasti:
Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
5 Nunc autem venit super te plaga, et defecisti: tetigit te, et conturbatus es.
But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
6 Ubi est timor tuus, fortitudo tua, patientia tua, et perfectio viarum tuarum?
Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?
7 Recordare obsecro te, quis umquam innocens periit? aut quando recti deleti sunt?
Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
8 Quin potius vidi eos, qui operantur iniquitatem, et seminant dolores, et metunt eos,
Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
9 Flante Deo perisse, et spiritu iræ eius esse consumptos:
By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
10 Rugitus leonis, et vox leænæ, et dentes catulorum leonum contriti sunt.
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
11 Tigris periit, eo quod non haberet prædam, et catuli leonis dissipati sunt.
The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion’s whelps are scattered abroad.
12 Porro ad me dictum est verbum absconditum, et quasi furtive suscepit auris mea venas susurri eius.
Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
13 In horrore visionis nocturnæ, quando solet sopor occupare homines,
In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
14 Pavor tenuit me, et tremor, et omnia ossa mea perterrita sunt:
Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
15 Et cum spiritus me præsente transiret, inhorruerunt pili carnis meæ.
Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
16 Stetit quidam, cuius non agnoscebam vultum, imago coram oculis meis, et vocem quasi auræ lenis audivi.
It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
17 Numquid homo, Dei comparatione iustificabitur, aut Factore suo purior erit vir?
Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
18 Ecce qui serviunt ei, non sunt stabiles, et in angelis suis reperit pravitatem:
Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
19 Quanto magis hi qui habitant domos luteas, qui terrenum habent fundamentum, consumentur velut a tinea?
How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
20 De mane usque ad vesperam succidentur: et quia nullus intelligit, in æternum peribunt.
They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.
21 Qui autem reliqui fuerint, auferentur ex eis: morientur, et non in sapientia.
Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.