Job 23
1 Respondens autem Job, ait:
Then Job answered:
2 Nunc quoque in amaritudine est sermo meus, et manus plagæ meæ aggravata est super gemitum meum.
“Even today my complaint is bitter. His hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3 Quis mihi tribuat ut cognoscam et inveniam illum, et veniam usque ad solium ejus?
If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.
4 Ponam coram eo judicium, et os meum replebo increpationibus:
I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 ut sciam verba quæ mihi respondeat, et intelligam quid loquatur mihi.
I would learn how He would answer, and consider what He would say.
6 Nolo multa fortitudine contendat mecum, nec magnitudinis suæ mole me premat.
Would He contend with me in His great power? No, He would certainly take note of me.
7 Proponat æquitatem contra me, et perveniat ad victoriam judicium meum.
Then an upright man could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.
8 Si ad orientem iero, non apparet; si ad occidentem, non intelligam eum.
If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot find Him.
9 Si ad sinistram, quid agam? non apprehendam eum; si me vertam ad dexteram, non videbo illum.
When He is at work in the north, I cannot behold Him; when He turns to the south, I cannot see Him.
10 Ipse vero scit viam meam, et probavit me quasi aurum quod per ignem transit.
Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
11 Vestigia ejus secutus est pes meus: viam ejus custodivi, et non declinavi ex ea.
My feet have followed in His tracks; I have kept His way without turning aside.
12 A mandatis labiorum ejus non recessi, et in sinu meo abscondi verba oris ejus.
I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.
13 Ipse enim solus est, et nemo avertere potest cogitationem ejus: et anima ejus quodcumque voluit, hoc fecit.
But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.
14 Cum expleverit in me voluntatem suam, et alia multa similia præsto sunt ei.
For He carries out His decree against me, and He has many such plans.
15 Et idcirco a facie ejus turbatus sum, et considerans eum, timore sollicitor.
Therefore I am terrified in His presence; when I consider this, I fear Him.
16 Deus mollivit cor meum, et Omnipotens conturbavit me.
God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.
17 Non enim perii propter imminentes tenebras, nec faciem meam operuit caligo.
Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.
