Job 14
1 Homo natus de muliere, brevi vivens tempore, repletur multis miseriis.
“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble.
2 Qui quasi flos egreditur et conteritur, et fugit velut umbra, et numquam in eodem statu permanet.
Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
3 Et dignum ducis super hujuscemodi aperire oculos tuos, et adducere eum tecum in judicium?
Do You open Your eyes to one like this? Will You bring him into judgment before You?
4 Quis potest facere mundum de immundo conceptum semine? nonne tu qui solus es?
Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!
5 Breves dies hominis sunt: numerus mensium ejus apud te est: constituisti terminos ejus, qui præteriri non poterunt.
Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed,
6 Recede paululum ab eo, ut quiescat, donec optata veniat, sicut mercenarii, dies ejus.
look away from him and let him rest, so he can enjoy his day as a hired hand.
7 Lignum habet spem: si præcisum fuerit, rursum virescit, et rami ejus pullulant.
For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail.
8 Si senuerit in terra radix ejus, et in pulvere emortuus fuerit truncus illius,
If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the soil,
9 ad odorem aquæ germinabit, et faciet comam, quasi cum primum plantatum est.
at the scent of water it will bud and put forth twigs like a sapling.
10 Homo vero cum mortuus fuerit, et nudatus, atque consumptus, ubi, quæso, est?
But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?
11 Quomodo si recedant aquæ de mari, et fluvius vacuefactus arescat:
As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and dry,
12 sic homo, cum dormierit, non resurget: donec atteratur cælum, non evigilabit, nec consurget de somno suo.
so a man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no more, he will not be awakened or roused from 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)
If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger has passed! If only You would appoint a time for me and then remember me! (Sheol h7585)
14 Putasne mortuus homo rursum vivat? cunctis diebus quibus nunc milito, expecto donec veniat immutatio mea.
When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes.
15 Vocabis me, et ego respondebo tibi: operi manuum tuarum porriges dexteram.
You will call, and I will answer; You will desire the work of Your hands.
16 Tu quidem gressus meos dinumerasti: sed parce peccatis meis.
For then You would count my steps, but would not keep track of my sin.
17 Signasti quasi in sacculo delicta mea, sed curasti iniquitatem meam.
My transgression would be sealed in a bag, and You would cover over my iniquity.
18 Mons cadens defluit, et saxum transfertur de loco suo:
But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and a rock is dislodged from its place,
19 lapides excavant aquæ, et alluvione paulatim terra consumitur: et hominem ergo similiter perdes.
as water wears away the stones and torrents wash away the soil, so You destroy a man’s hope.
20 Roborasti eum paululum, ut in perpetuum transiret: immutabis faciem ejus, et emittes eum.
You forever overpower him, and he passes on; You change his countenance and send him away.
21 Sive nobiles fuerint filii ejus, sive ignobiles, non intelliget.
If his sons receive honor, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he is unaware.
22 Attamen caro ejus, dum vivet, dolebit, et anima illius super semetipso lugebit.
He feels only the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself.”
