< Job 16 >
1 Respondens autem Job, dixit:
Then Job answered and said,
2 Audivi frequenter talia: consolatores onerosi omnes vos estis.
I have heard many such things: miserable comforters [are] ye all.
3 Numquid habebunt finem verba ventosa? aut aliquid tibi molestum est, si loquaris?
Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?
4 Poteram et ego similia vestri loqui, atque utinam esset anima vestra pro anima mea: consolarer et ego vos sermonibus, et moverem caput meum super vos;
I also could speak as ye [do]: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake my head at you.
5 roborarem vos ore meo, et moverem labia mea, quasi parcens vobis.
[But] I would strengthen you with my mouth and the moving of my lips should assuage [your grief].
6 Sed quid agam? Si locutus fuero, non quiescet dolor meus, et si tacuero, non recedet a me.
Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged: and [though] I forbear, what am I eased?
7 Nunc autem oppressit me dolor meus, et in nihilum redacti sunt omnes artus mei.
But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.
8 Rugæ meæ testimonium dicunt contra me, et suscitatur falsiloquus adversus faciem meam, contradicens mihi.
And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, [which] is a witness [against me]: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.
9 Collegit furorem suum in me, et comminans mihi, infremuit contra me dentibus suis: hostis meus terribilibus oculis me intuitus est.
He teareth [me] in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; my enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.
10 Aperuerunt super me ora sua, et exprobrantes percusserunt maxillam meam: satiati sunt pœnis meis.
They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves against me.
11 Conclusit me Deus apud iniquum, et manibus impiorum me tradidit.
God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.
12 Ego ille quondam opulentus, repente contritus sum: tenuit cervicem meam, confregit me, et posuit me sibi quasi in signum.
I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken [me] by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.
13 Circumdedit me lanceis suis; convulneravit lumbos meos: non pepercit, et effudit in terra viscera mea.
His archers encompass me; he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.
14 Concidit me vulnere super vulnus: irruit in me quasi gigas.
He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant.
15 Saccum consui super cutem meam, et operui cinere carnem meam.
I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.
16 Facies mea intumuit a fletu, et palpebræ meæ caligaverunt.
My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids [are] the shades of death;
17 Hæc passus sum absque iniquitate manus meæ, cum haberem mundas ad Deum preces.
Not for [any] injustice in my hands: also my prayer [is] pure.
18 Terra, ne operias sanguinem meum, neque inveniat in te locum latendi clamor meus:
O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.
19 ecce enim in cælo testis meus, et conscius meus in excelsis.
Also now, behold, my witness [is] in heaven, and my record [is] on high.
20 Verbosi amici mei: ad Deum stillat oculus meus:
My friends scorn me: [but] my eye poureth out [tears] to God.
21 atque utinam sic judicaretur vir cum Deo, quomodo judicatur filius hominis cum collega suo.
O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man [pleadeth] for his neighbor!
22 Ecce enim breves anni transeunt, et semitam per quam non revertar ambulo.
When a few years are come, then I shall go the way [whence] I shall not return.