Job 12
1 Respondens autem Iob, dixit:
Then Job said [to his three friends],
2 Ergo vos estis soli homines, et vobiscum morietur sapientia?
“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 Et mihi est cor sicut et vobis, nec inferior vestri sum: quis enim hæc, quæ nostis, ignorat?
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 Qui deridetur ab amico suo sicut ego, invocabit Deum, et exaudiet eum: deridetur enim iusti simplicitas.
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 Lampas contempta apud cogitationes divitum, parata ad tempus statutum.
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 Abundant tabernacula prædonum, et audacter provocant Deum, cum ipse dederit omnia in manus eorum.
Bandits live peacefully, and no one threatens those who cause God to become angry; their own strength is the god [that they worship].
7 Nimirum interroga iumenta, et docebunt te: et volatilia cæli, et indicabunt tibi.
“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 Loquere terræ, et respondebit tibi: et narrabunt pisces maris.
[If you could] ask the creatures [that crawl] on the ground, or the fish in the sea, they would tell you [about God].
9 Quis ignorat quod omnia hæc manus Domini fecerit?
All of them certainly know [RHQ] that it is Yahweh who has made them with his hands.
10 In cuius manu anima omnis viventis, et spiritus universæ carnis hominis.
He directs the lives of all living creatures; he gives breath to all [us] humans [to enable us to remain alive].
11 Nonne auris verba diiudicat, et fauces comedentis, saporem?
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 In antiquis est sapientia, et in multo tempore prudentia.
Old people are [often] very wise, and because of having lived many years, they understand much,
13 Apud ipsum est sapientia et fortitudo, ipse habet consilium et intelligentiam.
but God is wise and very powerful; he has good sense and understands [everything].
14 Si destruxerit, nemo est qui ædificet: si incluserit hominem, nullus est qui aperiat.
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 Si continuerit aquas, omnia siccabuntur: et si emiserit eas, subvertent terram.
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 Apud ipsum est fortitudo et sapientia: ipse novit et decipientem, et eum qui decipitur.
He is the one who is truly strong and wise; he rules over those who deceive others and those whom they deceive.
17 Adducit consiliarios in stultum finem, et iudices in stuporem.
He [sometimes] causes [the king’s] officials to no longer be wise, and he causes judges to become foolish.
18 Balteum regum dissolvit, et præcingit fune renes eorum.
He takes from kings the robes that they wear and puts loincloths around their waists, [causing them to become slaves].
19 Ducit sacerdotes inglorios, et optimates supplantat:
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 Commutans labium veracium, et doctrinam senum auferens.
He [sometimes] causes those whom others trust to be unable to speak, and he causes old men to no longer have good sense.
21 Effundit despectionem super principes, eos, qui oppressi fuerant, relevans.
He causes those who have authority to be despised, and he causes those who are powerful to no longer have any power/strength.
22 Qui revelat profunda de tenebris, et producit in lucem umbram mortis.
He causes things that are hidden in the darkness to be revealed.
23 Qui multiplicat gentes et perdit eas, et subversas in integrum restituit.
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 Qui immutat cor principum populi terræ, et decipit eos ut frustra incedant per invium:
He causes [some] rulers to become foolish/stupid, and then he causes them to wander around, lost, in an barren desert.
25 Palpabunt quasi in tenebris, et non in luce, et errare eos faciet quasi ebrios.
They grope around in the darkness, without any light, and he causes them to stagger like [SIM] people who are drunk.”
