Job 23
1 Respondens autem Job, ait:
And Job answereth and saith: —
2 Nunc quoque in amaritudine est sermo meus, et manus plagæ meæ aggravata est super gemitum meum.
Also — to-day [is] my complaint bitter, My hand hath been heavy because of my sighing.
3 Quis mihi tribuat ut cognoscam et inveniam illum, et veniam usque ad solium ejus?
O that I had known — and I find Him, I come in unto His seat,
4 Ponam coram eo judicium, et os meum replebo increpationibus:
I arrange before Him the cause, And my mouth fill [with] arguments.
5 ut sciam verba quæ mihi respondeat, et intelligam quid loquatur mihi.
I know the words He doth answer me, And understand what He saith to me.
6 Nolo multa fortitudine contendat mecum, nec magnitudinis suæ mole me premat.
In the abundance of power doth He strive with me? No! surely He putteth [it] in me.
7 Proponat æquitatem contra me, et perveniat ad victoriam judicium meum.
There the upright doth reason with Him, And I escape for ever from my judge.
8 Si ad orientem iero, non apparet; si ad occidentem, non intelligam eum.
Lo, forward I go — and He is not, And backward — and I perceive him not.
9 Si ad sinistram, quid agam? non apprehendam eum; si me vertam ad dexteram, non videbo illum.
[To] the left in His working — and I see not, He is covered [on] the right, and I behold not.
10 Ipse vero scit viam meam, et probavit me quasi aurum quod per ignem transit.
For He hath known the way with me, He hath tried me — as gold I go forth.
11 Vestigia ejus secutus est pes meus: viam ejus custodivi, et non declinavi ex ea.
On His step hath my foot laid hold, His way I have kept, and turn not aside,
12 A mandatis labiorum ejus non recessi, et in sinu meo abscondi verba oris ejus.
The command of His lips, and I depart not. Above my allotted portion I have laid up The sayings of His mouth.
13 Ipse enim solus est, et nemo avertere potest cogitationem ejus: et anima ejus quodcumque voluit, hoc fecit.
And He [is] in one [mind], And who doth turn Him back? And His soul hath desired — and He doth [it].
14 Cum expleverit in me voluntatem suam, et alia multa similia præsto sunt ei.
For He doth complete my portion, And many such things [are] with Him.
15 Et idcirco a facie ejus turbatus sum, et considerans eum, timore sollicitor.
Therefore, from His presence I am troubled, I consider, and am afraid of Him.
16 Deus mollivit cor meum, et Omnipotens conturbavit me.
And God hath made my heart soft, And the Mighty hath troubled me.
17 Non enim perii propter imminentes tenebras, nec faciem meam operuit caligo.
For I have not been cut off before darkness, And before me He covered thick darkness.
