Job 21
1 Respondens autem Job, dixit:
Then Job replied,
2 Audite, quæso, sermones meos, et agite pœnitentiam.
“Listen to what I say, all [three] of you; that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
3 Sustinete me, et ego loquar: et post mea, si videbitur, verba, ridete.
Be patient with me, and allow me to speak. Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
4 Numquid contra hominem disputatio mea est, ut merito non debeam contristari?
“It is certainly not [RHQ] people against whom I am complaining, [but God] And it is certainly [RHQ] right for me to be impatient!
5 Attendite me et obstupescite, et superponite digitum ori vestro.
Look at me! Does what you see not cause you to be appalled and to put your hands over your mouths [and say no more]?
6 Et ego, quando recordatus fuero, pertimesco, et concutit carnem meam tremor.
When I think about [what has happened to me], I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
7 Quare ergo impii vivunt, sublevati sunt, confortatique divitiis?
“[But let me ask this: ] ‘Why do wicked people continue to live, and become prosperous, and not die until they are very old?’
8 Semen eorum permanet coram eis: propinquorum turba et nepotum in conspectu eorum.
They have their children around them, and they watch them while they [grow up and] start to live in their own houses, and they enjoy their grandchildren.
9 Domus eorum securæ sunt et pacatæ, et non est virga Dei super illos.
Wicked people live in their own houses without being afraid, and God does not punish [MTY] them.
10 Bos eorum concepit, et non abortivit: vacca peperit, et non est privata fœtu suo.
Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully, and the cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
11 Egrediuntur quasi greges parvuli eorum, et infantes eorum exultant lusibus.
Wicked people send their young children outside [to play], and the children play [happily] like [SIM] lambs [in a pasture].
12 Tenent tympanum et citharam, et gaudent ad sonitum organi.
Some children dance and sing, while others shake tambourines and play lyres, and they are happy when they hear people playing flutes.
Wicked people enjoy having good things all the time that they are alive, and they die quietly/peacefully and go down to the place of the dead. (Sheol h7585)
14 Qui dixerunt Deo: Recede a nobis, et scientiam viarum tuarum nolumus.
While they are alive, they say to God, ‘Do not bother us; we do not want to know how you want us to conduct our lives!
15 Quis est Omnipotens, ut serviamus ei? et quid nobis prodest si oraverimus illum?
Why do you, Almighty God, think that we should serve you? (What advantage do we get if we pray to you?/It is useless for us to pray to you.) [RHQ]’
16 Verumtamen quia non sunt in manu eorum bona sua, consilium impiorum longe sit a me.
Think about it: Wicked people think that it is because of what they have done that they have become prosperous, but I do not understand why they think like that.
17 Quoties lucerna impiorum extinguetur, et superveniet eis inundatio, et dolores dividet furoris sui?
(“How often does it happen that wicked people die [MET] before they are old?/Very seldom do wicked people die [MET] before they are old.) [RHQ] (Do they ever experience disasters?/They seldom experience disasters.) [RHQ] (Does God ever punish them because of being very angry with them?/God never punishes them because of being very angry with them.) [RHQ]
18 Erunt sicut paleæ ante faciem venti, et sicut favilla quam turbo dispergit.
[He does not blow] them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
19 Deus servabit filiis illius dolorem patris, et cum reddiderit, tunc sciet.
You say, ‘When people have committed sins, God waits and punishes their children because of those sins;’ but [I say that] God should punish those who sin, [not their children, ] in order that the sinners will know [that it is because of their own sins that they are being punished].
20 Videbunt oculi ejus interfectionem suam, et de furore Omnipotentis bibet.
I hope/wish that wicked people will experience themselves being destroyed, that they will experience being punished by an angry Almighty God.
21 Quid enim ad eum pertinet de domo sua post se, et si numerus mensium ejus dimidietur?
After wicked people are dead, they are not at all concerned [RHQ] about what happens to their families [MTY].
22 Numquid Deus docebit quispiam scientiam, qui excelsos judicat?
“Since God judges [everyone, ] even those that are in heaven, (who can teach God anything?/certainly no one can teach God anything.) [RHQ]
23 Iste moritur robustus et sanus, dives et felix:
Some people die while they are very healthy, while they are peaceful, when they are not afraid of anything.
24 viscera ejus plena sunt adipe, et medullis ossa illius irrigantur:
Their bodies are fat; their bones are strong.
25 alius vero moritur in amaritudine animæ absque ullis opibus:
Other people die being very miserable; they have never experienced good things happening to them.
26 et tamen simul in pulvere dormient, et vermes operient eos.
But both rich and poor people die and are buried, and maggots eat their bodies. [Everyone dies, so it is clear that dying is not always the punishment for being wicked].
27 Certe novi cogitationes vestras, et sententias contra me iniquas.
“Listen, I know what you [three] are thinking. I know the evil things that you plan to do to me.
28 Dicitis enim: Ubi est domus principis? et ubi tabernacula impiorum?
You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living? The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’
29 Interrogate quemlibet de viatoribus, et hæc eadem illum intelligere cognoscetis:
But have you never inquired of people who travel much? Do you not believe their reports about what they have seen,
30 quia in diem perditionis servatur malus, et ad diem furoris ducetur.
that wicked people usually do not suffer at the time when there are great disasters; that wicked people are the ones who are rescued when God is angry [and punishes people] [MTY]?
31 Quis arguet coram eo viam ejus? et quæ fecit, quis reddet illi?
There is no one [RHQ] who accuses wicked people, and there is no one who (pays them back/gives them the punishment that they deserve) for all the evil things that they have done.
32 Ipse ad sepulchra ducetur, et in congerie mortuorum vigilabit.
The corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves, and people are put there to guard those graves.
33 Dulcis fuit glareis Cocyti, et post se omnem hominem trahet, et ante se innumerabiles.
A huge number [HYP] of people go to the grave site. Some go in front of the procession and some come behind. And the clods of dirt thrown on the graves of those wicked people who have died are like a nice blanket.
34 Quomodo igitur consolamini me frustra, cum responsio vestra repugnare ostensa sit veritati?
“So how can you console me by talking nonsense? Every reply that you make is full of lies!”
