Job 4
1 Respondens autem Eliphaz Themanites, dixit:
Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite, and said,
2 Si cœperimus loqui tibi, forsitan moleste accipies, sed conceptum sermonem tenere quis poterit?
If we essay to address a word to thee, wilt thou be wearied? yet who is able to refrain from speaking?
3 Ecce docuisti multos, et manus lassas roborasti:
Behold, thou hast [ere this] corrected many, and weak hands thou wast wont to strengthen.
4 Vacillantes confirmaverunt sermones tui, et genua trementia confortasti:
Him that stumbled thy words used to uphold, and to sinking knees thou gavest vigor.
5 Nunc autem venit super te plaga, et defecisti: tetigit te, et conturbatus es.
Yet now, when it cometh to thee, thou art wearied: it toucheth even thee, and thou art terrified.
6 Ubi est timor tuus, fortitudo tua, patientia tua, et perfectio viarum tuarum?
Is not then thy fear of God still thy confidence, thy hope equal to the integrity 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 destroyed?
8 Quin potius vidi eos, qui operantur iniquitatem, et seminant dolores, et metunt eos,
Even as I have seen, that those who plough wrong-doing, and sow trouble, have to reap the same.
9 Flante Deo perisse, et spiritu iræ eius esse consumptos:
Before the breathing of God they perish, and before the breath of his nostrils they come to their end.
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 whelps of the lioness have to scatter themselves abroad.
12 Porro ad me dictum est verbum absconditum, et quasi furtive suscepit auris mea venas susurri eius.
But to me a word came by stealth, and my ear took in a scarcely perceptible whisper thereof.
13 In horrore visionis nocturnæ, quando solet sopor occupare homines,
In intense thoughts out of visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men:
14 Pavor tenuit me, et tremor, et omnia ossa mea perterrita sunt:
Dread came over me, with trembling, and it caused all my bones to shudder.
15 Et cum spiritus me præsente transiret, inhorruerunt pili carnis meæ.
Then flitted a spirit past before my face; the hair of my body 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 recognize its form; a figure was before my eyes, a slight whisper, then a [louder] voice I heard, saying,
17 Numquid homo, Dei comparatione iustificabitur, aut factore suo purior erit vir?
Can a mortal be more righteous than God? or can a man be more pure than his Maker?
18 Ecce qui serviunt ei, non sunt stabiles, et in angelis suis reperit pravitatem:
Behold, in his servants he putteth no trust, and his angels he chargeth with folly:
19 Quanto magis hi qui habitant domos luteas, qui terrenum habent fundamentum, consumentur velut a tinea?
How much less in those that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed till they come to be eaten by the moth?
20 De mane usque ad vesperam succidentur: et quia nullus intelligit, in æternum peribunt.
From morning to evening are they broken to pieces: without laying it [to heart] they perish for ever.
21 Qui autem reliqui fuerint, auferentur ex eis: morientur, et non in sapientia.
Behold, their excellency which is in them is torn away: they die, and this without wisdom.
