< Job 9 >
1 Et respondens Job, ait:
And Job answered, and said:
2 Vere scio quod ita sit, et quod non justificetur homo compositus Deo.
Indeed I know it is so, and that man cannot be justified compared with God.
3 Si voluerit contendere cum eo, non poterit ei respondere unum pro mille.
If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one for a thousand.
4 Sapiens corde est, et fortis robore: quis restitit ei, et pacem habuit?
He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath resisted him, and hath had peace?
5 Qui transtulit montes, et nescierunt hi quos subvertit in furore suo.
Who hath removed mountains, and they whom he overthrew in his wrath, knew it not.
6 Qui commovet terram de loco suo, et columnæ ejus concutiuntur.
Who shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.
7 Qui præcipit soli, et non oritur, et stellas claudit quasi sub signaculo.
Who commandeth tile sun and it riseth not: and shutteth up the stars as it were under a seal:
8 Qui extendit cælos solus, et graditur super fluctus maris.
Who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and walketh upon the waves of the sea.
9 Qui facit Arcturum et Oriona, et Hyadas et interiora austri.
Who maketh Arcturus, and Orion, and Hyades, and the inner parts of the south.
10 Qui facit magna, et incomprehensibilia, et mirabilia, quorum non est numerus.
Who doth things great and incomprehensible, and wonderful, of which there is no number.
11 Si venerit ad me, non videbo eum; si abierit, non intelligam.
If he come to me, I shall not see him: if he depart I shall not understand.
12 Si repente interroget, quis respondebit ei? vel quis dicere potest: Cur ita facis?
If he examine on a sudden, who shall answer him? or who can say: Why dost thou so?
13 Deus, cujus iræ nemo resistere potest, et sub quo curvantur qui portant orbem.
God, whose wrath no mall can resist, and under whom they stoop that bear up the world.
14 Quantus ergo sum ego, ut respondeam ei, et loquar verbis meis cum eo?
What am I then, that I should answer him, and have words with him?
15 qui etiam si habuero quippiam justum, non respondebo: sed meum judicem deprecabor.
I, who although I should have any just thing, would not answer, but would make supplication to my judge.
16 Et cum invocantem exaudierit me, non credo quod audierit vocem meam.
And if he should hear me when I call, I should not believe that he had heard my voice.
17 In turbine enim conteret me, et multiplicabit vulnera mea, etiam sine causa.
For he shall crush me in a whirlwind, and multiply my wounds even without cause.
18 Non concedit requiescere spiritum meum, et implet me amaritudinibus.
He alloweth not my spirit to rest, and he filleth me with bitterness.
19 Si fortitudo quæritur, robustissimus est; si æquitas judicii, nemo audet pro me testimonium dicere.
If strength be demanded, he is most strong: if equity of judgment, no man dare bear witness for me.
20 Si justificare me voluero, os meum condemnabit me; si innocentem ostendero, pravum me comprobabit.
If I would justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me: if I would shew myself innocent, he shall prove me wicked.
21 Etiam si simplex fuero, hoc ipsum ignorabit anima mea, et tædebit me vitæ meæ.
Although I should be simple, even this my soul shall be ignorant of, and I shall be weary of my life.
22 Unum est quod locutus sum: et innocentem et impium ipse consumit.
One thing there is that I have spoken, both the innocent and the wicked he consumeth.
23 Si flagellat, occidat semel, et non de pœnis innocentum rideat.
If he scourge, let him kill at once, and not laugh at the pains of the innocent.
24 Terra data est in manus impii; vultum judicum ejus operit. Quod si non ille est, quis ergo est?
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked, he covereth the face of the judges thereof: and if it be not he, who is it then?
25 Dies mei velociores fuerunt cursore; fugerunt, et non viderunt bonum.
My days have been swifter than a post: they have fled away and have not seen good.
26 Pertransierunt quasi naves poma portantes; sicut aquila volans ad escam.
They have passed by as ships carrying fruits, as an eagle flying to the prey.
27 Cum dixero: Nequaquam ita loquar: commuto faciem meam, et dolore torqueor.
If I say: I will not speak so: I change my face, and am tormented with sorrow.
28 Verebar omnia opera mea, sciens quod non parceres delinquenti.
I feared all my works, knowing that thou didst not spare the offender.
29 Si autem et sic impius sum, quare frustra laboravi?
But if so also I am wicked, why have I laboured in vain?
30 Si lotus fuero quasi aquis nivis, et fulserint velut mundissimæ manus meæ,
If I be washed as it were with snow waters, and my hands shall shine ever so clean:
31 tamen sordibus intinges me, et abominabuntur me vestimenta mea.
Yet thou shalt plunge me in filth, and my garments shall abhor me,
32 Neque enim viro qui similis mei est, respondebo; nec qui mecum in judicio ex æquo possit audiri.
For I shall not answer a man that is like myself: nor one that may be heard with me equally in judgment.
33 Non est qui utrumque valeat arguere, et ponere manum suam in ambobus.
There is none that may be able to reprove both, and to put his hand between both.
34 Auferat a me virgam suam, et pavor ejus non me terreat.
Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me.
35 Loquar, et non timebo eum; neque enim possum metuens respondere.
I will speak, and will not fear him: for I cannot answer while I am in fear.