Job 14
1 Homo natus de muliere, brevi vivens tempore, repletur multis miseriis.
Man, born of woman, is of few days, and full of trouble.
2 Qui quasi flos egreditur et conteritur, et fugit velut umbra, et numquam in eodem statu permanet.
He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; and he fleeth as a shadow, and continueth not.
3 Et dignum ducis super huiuscemodi aperire oculos tuos, et adducere eum tecum in iudicium?
Yet dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?
4 Quis potest facere mundum de immundo conceptum semine? nonne tu qui solus es?
Who can bring a clean [man] out of the unclean? Not one!
5 Breves dies hominis sunt: numerus mensium eius apud te est: constituisti terminos eius, qui præteriri non poterunt.
If his days are determined, if the number of his months is with thee, [and] thou hast appointed his bounds which he must not pass,
6 Recede paululum ab eo, ut quiescat, donec optata veniat, sicut mercenarii, dies eius.
Look away from him; and let him rest, till he accomplish, as a hireling, his day.
7 Lignum habet spem: si præcisum fuerit, rursum virescit, et rami eius pullulant.
For there is hope for a tree: if it be cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender branch will not cease;
8 Si senuerit in terra radix eius, et in pulvere emortuus fuerit truncus illius,
Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stock die in the ground,
9 Ad odorem aquæ germinabit, et faciet comam quasi cum primum plantatum est:
Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and put forth boughs like a young plant.
10 Homo vero cum mortuus fuerit, et nudatus atque consumptus, ubi quæso est?
But a man dieth, and is prostrate; yea, man expireth, and where is he?
11 Quomodo si recedant aquæ de mari, et fluvius vacuefactus arescat:
The waters recede from the lake, and the river wasteth and drieth up:
12 Sic homo cum dormierit, non resurget, donec atteratur cælum, non evigilabit, nec consurget de somno suo.
So man lieth down, and riseth not again; till the heavens be no more, they do not awake, nor are raised out of their sleep.
13 Quis mihi hoc tribuat, ut in inferno protegas me, et abscondas me, donec pertranseat furor tuus, et constituas mihi tempus, in quo recorderis mei? (Sheol h7585)
Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, that thou wouldest keep me secret until thine anger be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me, — (Sheol h7585)
14 Putasne mortuus homo rursum vivat? cunctis diebus, quibus nunc milito, expecto donec veniat immutatio mea.
(If a man die, shall he live [again]?) all the days of my time of toil would I wait, till my change should come:
15 Vocabis me, et ego respondebo tibi: operi manuum tuarum porriges dexteram.
Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee; thou wouldest have a desire after the work of thy hands.
16 Tu quidem gressus meos dinumerasti, sed parce peccatis meis.
For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?
17 Signasti quasi in sacculo delicta mea, sed curasti iniquitatem meam.
My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou heapest up mine iniquity.
18 Mons cadens defluit, et saxum transfertur de loco suo.
And indeed a mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of its place;
19 Lapides excavant aquæ, et alluvione paulatim terra consumitur: et hominem ergo similiter perdes.
The waters wear the stones, the floods thereof wash away the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.
20 Roborasti eum paululum ut in perpetuum transiret: immutabis faciem eius, et emittes eum.
Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth away; thou changest his countenance, and dismissest him.
21 Sive nobiles fuerint filii eius, sive ignobiles, non intelliget.
His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, and he perceiveth it not.
22 Attamen caro eius dum vivet dolebit, et anima illius super semetipso lugebit.
But his flesh hath pain for himself alone, and his soul mourneth for himself.
