Job 4
1 Respondens autem Eliphaz Themanites, dixit:
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered Job.
2 Si coeperimus loqui tibi, forsitan moleste accipies, sed conceptum sermonem tenere quis poterit?
“Could I say a word? I don't want to upset you but who could keep quiet and not respond?
3 Ecce docuisti multos, et manus lassas roborasti:
You've certainly encouraged many people and supported those who are weak.
4 Vacillantes confirmaverunt sermones tui, et genua trementia confortasti:
Your advice has helped those who are stumbling not to fall, and you have strengthened those whose knees are weak.
5 Nunc autem venit super te plaga, et defecisti: tetigit te, et conturbatus es.
But now you're the one suffering and you're upset.
6 Ubi est timor tuus, fortitudo tua, patientia tua, et perfectio viarum tuarum?
Wasn't it your reverence for God that gave you confidence and your integrity that gave you hope?
7 Recordare obsecro te, quis umquam innocens periit? aut quando recti deleti sunt?
Think about it: since when did the innocent die? Since when were good people destroyed?
8 Quin potius vidi eos, qui operantur iniquitatem, et seminant dolores, et metunt eos,
From what I've seen it's those who plant evil and sow trouble who reap the same!
9 Flante Deo perisse, et spiritu irae eius esse consumptos:
A breath from God destroys them; a blast of his anger wipes them out.
10 Rugitus leonis, et vox leaenae, et dentes catulorum leonum contriti sunt.
Lions may roar and growl, but their teeth still break.
11 Tigris periit, eo quod non haberet praedam, et catuli leonis dissipati sunt.
Even a lion dies from lack of food, and the lioness' cubs are scattered.
12 Porro ad me dictum est verbum absconditum, et quasi furtive suscepit auris mea venas susurri eius.
A word quietly crept up on me; a whisper reached my ear.
13 In horrore visionis nocturnae, quando solet sopor occupare homines,
Troubling thoughts came to me in nightmares when you fall into a deep sleep.
14 Pavor tenuit me, et tremor, et omnia ossa mea perterrita sunt:
I became terrified and trembled; all my bones were shaking.
15 Et cum spiritus me praesente transiret, inhorruerunt pili carnis meae.
Then a breath brushed my face and gave me goose-pimples.
16 Stetit quidam, cuius non agnoscebam vultum, imago coram oculis meis, et vocem quasi aurae lenis audivi.
Something stopped, but I couldn't see its face. My eyes could only make out a shape. It was totally quiet, and then I heard a voice:
17 Numquid homo, Dei comparatione iustificabitur, aut factore suo purior erit vir?
‘Can anyone be right before God? Can anyone be pure before their Maker?
18 Ecce qui serviunt ei, non sunt stabiles, et in angelis suis reperit pravitatem:
If he doesn't even trust his servants, and he says his angels make mistakes,
19 Quanto magis hi qui habitant domos luteas, qui terrenum habent fundamentum, consumentur velut a tinea?
how much more does this apply to those who live in these houses made of clay, whose foundations are based on dust, who fall apart like clothing to a moth?
20 De mane usque ad vesperam succidentur: et quia nullus intelligit, in aeternum peribunt.
Alive in the morning, they are dead by evening. They die, unnoticed.
21 Qui autem reliqui fuerint, auferentur ex eis: morientur, et non in sapientia.
They are like tent ropes that are pulled up, and they collapse in death. They die without wisdom.’
