Job 6
1 Respondens autem Job, dixit:
Then Job spoke again, saying [to Eliphaz],
2 Utinam appenderentur peccata mea quibus iram merui, et calamitas quam patior, in statera!
“If all my troubles and misery could be put on a scale and weighed,
3 Quasi arena maris hæc gravior appareret; unde et verba mea dolore sunt plena:
they would be heavier than all the sands [on the shores] of the oceans. That is why I spoke (very rashly/without thinking clearly) [about the day that I was born].
4 quia sagittæ Domini in me sunt, quarum indignatio ebibit spiritum meum; et terrores Domini militant contra me.
[It is as though] Almighty [God] has shot me with arrows. [It is as though] those arrows had poison on their tips, and that poison has gone into my spirit. The things that God has done to me have terrified me.
5 Numquid rugiet onager cum habuerit herbam? aut mugiet bos cum ante præsepe plenum steterit?
Just like a wild donkey does not [complain by] braying when it has plenty of grass to eat, and an ox does not [complain by] bellowing when it has food to eat [MET], [I would not complain if you were really helping/comforting me].
6 aut poterit comedi insulsum, quod non est sale conditum? aut potest aliquis gustare quod gustatum affert mortem?
People complain [RHQ] when they must eat food which has no salt or other tasteless food [MET], [and that is what your words are like, Eliphaz].
7 Quæ prius nolebat tangere anima mea, nunc, præ angustia, cibi mei sunt.
Just like I do not want to eat food [like that], and I loathe/detests that kind of food [MET], [I do not appreciate what you have said to me].
8 Quis det ut veniat petitio mea, et quod expecto tribuat mihi Deus?
“I wish that God would do for me what I have requested from him [DOU].
9 et qui cœpit, ipse me conterat; solvat manum suam, et succidat me?
I wish that he would crush me [and let me die]. I wish that he would reach out his hand and take away my life.
10 Et hæc mihi sit consolatio, ut affligens me dolore, non parcat, nec contradicam sermonibus Sancti.
If he would do that, I would be comforted by knowing that in spite of the great pain that I have suffered, I have always obeyed what [God, ] the Holy One, has commanded.
11 Quæ est enim fortitudo mea, ut sustineam? aut quis finis meus, ut patienter agam?
But now I do not have [RHQ] enough strength to endure all these things. And since I have nothing [to hope for] in (the future/this life), it is difficult for me to be patient now [RHQ].
12 Nec fortitudo lapidum fortitudo mea, nec caro mea ænea est.
I am not [RHQ] strong like rocks are, and my body is not made of bronze.
13 Ecce non est auxilium mihi in me, et necessarii quoque mei recesserunt a me.
So I am not able to help myself, and [it seems that] there is no one to rescue me.”
14 Qui tollit ab amico suo misericordiam, timorem Domini derelinquit.
“When a man has many troubles, his friends should be kind to him, even if he stops revering Almighty [God].
15 Fratres mei præterierunt me, sicut torrens qui raptim transit in convallibus.
But [you, ] my friends, are not dependable. You are like streams: They spill over their banks [in the spring]
16 Qui timent pruinam, irruet super eos nix.
when [the melting] ice and snow make those streams overflow,
17 Tempore quo fuerint dissipati, peribunt; et ut incaluerit, solventur de loco suo.
but when the dry season comes, there is no water flowing [in those streams], and the channels dry up.
18 Involutæ sunt semitæ gressuum eorum; ambulabunt in vacuum, et peribunt.
[The caravans of merchants] turn off the path [to search for some water], but there is no water, so they die [in the desert].
19 Considerate semitas Thema, itinera Saba, et expectate paulisper.
The men in those caravans search [for some water] because they are sure that they will find some.
20 Confusi sunt, quia speravi: venerunt quoque usque ad me, et pudore cooperti sunt.
But they do not find any, so they are very disappointed.
21 Nunc venistis; et modo videntes plagam meam, timetis.
Similarly, you friends have not helped me at all! You have seen that terrible things have happened to me, and you are afraid [that God might do similar things to you].
22 Numquid dixi: Afferte mihi, et de substantia vestra donate mihi?
[After I lost all my wealth, ] did I ask any of you for money? [RHQ] Did I plead with any of you to spend some of your money to help me [RHQ]?
23 vel: Liberate me de manu hostis, et de manu robustorum eruite me?
Have I asked any of you to rescue me from my enemies [RHQ]? Have I asked you to save me from those who (oppressed me/treated me badly) [RHQ]? [No!]”
24 Docete me, et ego tacebo: et si quid forte ignoravi, instruite me.
“Answer me [now, and then] I will be quiet; tell me what wrong things I have done!
25 Quare detraxistis sermonibus veritatis, cum e vobis nullus sit qui possit arguere me?
When people speak what is true, that will not hurt the person who hears it, but what you say, criticizing me, [is not true, so your saying it] proves nothing [RHQ]!
26 Ad increpandum tantum eloquia concinnatis, et in ventum verba profertis.
I am a man who has nothing to hope for, but you try to correct me, and you think what I say is nothing but wind [RHQ]!
27 Super pupillum irruitis, et subvertere nitimini amicum vestrum.
You do not sympathize with me at all [for all that I am suffering]. [You are heartless!] You would even gamble to see who gets an orphan [as a prize]!
28 Verumtamen quod cœpistis explete: præbete aurem, et videte an mentiar.
Please look at me! I will not [RHQ] lie to you.
29 Respondete, obsecro, absque contentione; et loquentes id quod justum est, judicate.
Stop [saying that I have sinned, and] stop criticizing me unjustly! You should realize that I have not done things that are wrong.
30 Et non invenietis in lingua mea iniquitatem, nec in faucibus meis stultitia personabit.
Do you think that I am lying? No, I am not lying, because I know what is right and what is wrong [RHQ].”
