Job 33
1 Audi igitur, Job, eloquia mea, et omnes sermones meos ausculta.
So now, Job, I beg you, hear my speech; listen to all my words.
2 Ecce aperui os meum: loquatur lingua mea in faucibus meis.
See now, I have opened my mouth; my tongue has spoken in my mouth.
3 Simplici corde meo sermones mei, et sententiam puram labia mea loquentur.
My words come from the uprightness of my heart; my lips speak pure knowledge.
4 Spiritus Dei fecit me, et spiraculum Omnipotentis vivificavit me.
The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty has given me life.
5 Si potes, responde mihi, et adversus faciem meam consiste.
If you can, answer me; set your words in order before me and stand up.
6 Ecce, et me sicut et te fecit Deus, et de eodem luto ego quoque formatus sum.
See, I am just as you are in God's sight; I also have been formed out of the clay.
7 Verumtamen miraculum meum non te terreat, et eloquentia mea non sit tibi gravis.
See, terror of me will not make you afraid; neither will my pressure be heavy upon you.
8 Dixisti ergo in auribus meis, et vocem verborum tuorum audivi:
You have certainly spoken in my hearing; I have heard the sound of your words saying,
9 Mundus sum ego, et absque delicto: immaculatus, et non est iniquitas in me.
'I am clean and without transgression; I am innocent, and there is no sin in me.
10 Quia querelas in me reperit, ideo arbitratus est me inimicum sibi.
See, God finds opportunities to attack me; he regards me as his enemy.
11 Posuit in nervo pedes meos; custodivit omnes semitas meas.
He puts my feet in stocks; he watches all my paths.'
12 Hoc est ergo in quo non es justificatus: respondebo tibi, quia major sit Deus homine.
See, in this you are not right—I will answer you, for God is greater than man.
13 Adversus eum contendis, quod non ad omnia verba responderit tibi?
Why do you struggle against him? He does not account for any of his doings.
14 Semel loquitur Deus, et secundo idipsum non repetit.
For God speaks once— yes, twice, though man does not notice it.
15 Per somnium, in visione nocturna, quando irruit sopor super homines, et dormiunt in lectulo,
In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumber on the bed—
16 tunc aperit aures virorum, et erudiens eos instruit disciplina,
then God opens the ears of men, and frightens them with threats,
17 ut avertat hominem ab his quæ facit, et liberet eum de superbia,
in order to pull man back from his sinful purposes, and keep pride from him.
18 eruens animam ejus a corruptione, et vitam illius ut non transeat in gladium.
God keeps man's life back from the pit, his life from crossing over to death.
19 Increpat quoque per dolorem in lectulo, et omnia ossa ejus marcescere facit.
Man is punished also with pain on his bed, with constant agony in his bones,
20 Abominabilis ei fit in vita sua panis, et animæ illius cibus ante desiderabilis.
so that his life abhors food, and his soul abhors delicacies.
21 Tabescet caro ejus, et ossa, quæ tecta fuerant, nudabuntur.
His flesh is consumed away so that it cannot be seen; his bones, once not seen, now stick out.
22 Appropinquavit corruptioni anima ejus, et vita illius mortiferis.
Indeed, his soul draws close to the pit, his life to those who wish to destroy it.
23 Si fuerit pro eo angelus loquens, unus de millibus, ut annuntiet hominis æquitatem,
But if there is an angel who can be a mediator for him, a mediator, one from among the thousands of angels, to show him what is right to do,
24 miserebitur ejus, et dicet: Libera eum, ut non descendat in corruptionem: inveni in quo ei propitier.
and if the angel is kind to him and says to God, 'Save this person from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him,'
25 Consumpta est caro ejus a suppliciis: revertatur ad dies adolescentiæ suæ.
then his flesh will become fresher than a child's; he will return to the days of his youthful strength.
26 Deprecabitur Deum, et placabilis ei erit: et videbit faciem ejus in jubilo, et reddet homini justitiam suam.
He will pray to God, and God will be kind to him, so that he sees God's face with joy. God will give the person his triumph.
27 Respiciet homines, et dicet: Peccavi, et vere deliqui, et ut eram dignus, non recepi.
Then that person will sing in front of other people and say, 'I sinned and perverted that which was right, but my sin was not punished.
28 Liberavit animam suam, ne pergeret in interitum, sed vivens lucem videret.
God has rescued my soul from going down into the pit; my life will continue to see light.'
29 Ecce hæc omnia operatur Deus tribus vicibus per singulos,
See, God does all these things with a person, twice, yes, even three times,
30 ut revocet animas eorum a corruptione, et illuminet luce viventium.
to bring his soul back from the pit, so that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
31 Attende, Job, et audi me: et tace, dum ego loquor.
Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent and I will speak.
32 Si autem habes quod loquaris, responde mihi: loquere, volo enim te apparere justum.
If you have anything to say, answer me; speak, for I wish to prove that you are in the right.
33 Quod si non habes, audi me: tace, et docebo te sapientiam.
If not, then listen to me; remain silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
