Job 9
1 Et respondens Iob, ait:
Then Job replied,
2 Vere scio quod ita sit, et quod non iustificetur homo compositus Deo.
“Yes, I certainly know that [much of] what you said is true. But (how can anyone say to God, ‘I (am innocent/have not done what is wrong) and prove it?’/no one can say to God ‘I (am innocent/have not done what is wrong) and prove it.’) [RHQ]
3 Si voluerit contendere cum eo, non poterit ei respondere unum pro mille.
If someone wanted to argue with God [about that], God could ask him 1,000 questions, and that person would not be able to answer any of them!
4 Sapiens corde est, et fortis robore: quis restitit ei, et pacem habuit?
God is very wise [IDM] and very powerful; no one who has tried to challenge God has been able to win.
5 Qui transtulit montes, et nescierunt hi quos subvertit in furore suo.
He even moves mountains, without them (OR, anyone) knowing about it. When he is angry, he turns them upside down.
6 Qui commovet terram de loco suo, et columnae eius concutiuntur.
He sends earthquakes that shake the ground; he causes the pillars that support the earth to tremble.
7 Qui praecipit Soli, et non oritur: et stellas claudit quasi sub signaculo:
[Some days] he speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, and [some nights] he prevents the stars from shining.
8 Qui extendit caelos solus, et graditur super fluctus maris.
He alone (stretched out/put in place) the sky; he alone puts his feet on the waves (OR, on the huge sea monster).
9 Qui facit Arcturum, et Oriona, et Hyadas, et interiora austri.
He put in their places [the clusters/groups of stars that are called] The Dipper/Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the stars in the southern sky.
10 Qui facit magna, et incomprehensibilia, et mirabilia, quorum non est numerus.
Only he does great things that we cannot understand; he does more marvelous things than we are able to count.
11 Si venerit ad me, non videbo eum: si abierit, non intelligam.
He passes by where I am, but I do not see him; he moves further on, but I do not see him go.
12 Si repente interroget, quis respondebit ei? vel quis dicere potest: Cur ita facis?
If he [wants to] snatch something away, no one [RHQ] can hinder him; no one dares to ask him, ‘Why are you doing that?’ [RHQ]
13 Deus, cuius irae nemo resistere potest, et sub quo curvantur qui portant orbem.
God will not very easily stop being angry; he defeated [MTY] those who [tried to] help Rahab, [the great sea monster].
14 Quantus ergo sum ego, ut respondeam ei, et loquar verbis meis cum eo?
“So, [if God took me to court], what could I say [MTY] to answer him?
15 Qui etiam si habuero quippiam iustum, non respondebo, sed meum iudicem deprecabor.
Even though I (would be innocent/would not have done what is wrong), I would not be able to answer him. All I could do would be to request God, my judge/accuser, to act mercifully toward me.
16 Et cum invocantem exaudierit me, non credo quod audierit vocem meam.
If I summoned him to [come to the courtroom] and he said that he would come, I would not believe that he would pay attention to what I would say.
17 In turbine enim conteret me, et multiplicabit vulnera mea etiam sine causa.
He sends storms to batter me, and he bruises me many times (without any reason to do that/even though I am innocent).
18 Non concedit requiescere spiritum meum, et implet me amaritudinibus.
[It is as though] he will not let me get/catch my breath, because he causes me to suffer all the time.
19 Si fortitudo quaeritur, robustissimus est: si aequitas iudicii, nemo audet pro me testimonium dicere.
If I would try to (wrestle with/fight against) him, [there is no way that I could defeat him, ] [because] he is stronger than I am. If I would request him to appear in court, there is no one who could [RHQ] force him to go there.
20 Si iustificare me voluero, os meum condemnabit me: si innocentem ostendero, pravum me comprobabit.
Even though I was innocent, what I would say would cause him to say that I must be punished [MTY]; even though I had not done anything wrong, he would prove that I am guilty.
21 Etiam si simplex fuero, hoc ipsum ignorabit anima mea, et taedebit me vitae meae.
“I have not done what is wrong, but that is not important. I despise continuing to remain alive.
22 Unum est quod locutus sum, et innocentem et impium ipse consumit.
But it doesn’t matter, because God will get rid of [all of us, ] both those who are innocent and those who are wicked.
23 Si flagellat, occidat semel, et non de poenis innocentum rideat.
When people experience disaster and it causes them to suddenly die, God laughs at it, even if they are innocent.
24 Terra data est in manus impii, vultum iudicum eius operit: quod si non ille est, quis ergo est?
God has allowed wicked people to control [what happens in] the world. [It is as though] he has caused judges to be blindfolded, [with the result that they cannot judge fairly]. If it is not God who has put wicked people in control, who has done it?
25 Dies mei velociores fuerunt cursore: fugerunt, et non viderunt bonum.
“My days go by very quickly, like a fast runner; [it is as though] they run away, and nothing good happens to me on those days.
26 Pertransierunt quasi naves poma portantes, sicut aquila volans ad escam.
My life goes by very rapidly, like a boat made from reeds sailing swiftly, or like an eagle that swoops down to seize a small animal.
27 Cum dixero: Nequaquam ita loquar: commuto faciem meam, et dolore torqueor.
If I smile and say [to God], ‘I will forget what I am complaining about; I will stop looking sad and try to be cheerful/happy,’
28 Verebar omnia opera mea, sciens quod non parceres delinquenti.
then I become afraid because of all that I am suffering, because I know that God does not consider that I am innocent.
29 Si autem et sic impius sum, quare frustra laboravi?
He will (condemn me/declare that I should be punished), so why should I keep trying in vain [to defend myself]?
30 Si lotus fuero quasi aquis nivis, et fulserint velut mundissimae manus meae:
If I washed myself with snow or cleansed my hands with lye/soap [to get rid of my guilt],
31 Tamen sordibus intinges me, et abominabuntur me vestimenta mea.
he would still throw me into a filthy pit; as a result [it would be as though] even my clothes would detest me.
32 Neque enim viro qui similis mei est, respondebo: nec qui mecum in iudicio ex aequo possit audiri.
“God is not a human, as I am, so there is no way that I could answer him [to prove that I am innocent] if we went together to have a trial [in a courtroom].
33 Non est qui utrumque valeat arguere, et ponere manum suam in ambobus.
There is no one to (mediate/hear us and decide who is right), no one who has authority over both of us [IDM].
34 Auferat a me virgam suam, et pavor eius non me terreat.
I wish/desire that he would stop punishing [MTY] me, and that he would not continue to terrify me.
35 Loquar, et non timebo eum: neque enim possum metuens respondere.
If he did that, I would declare [that I am innocent] without being afraid of him, because I know that I really have not [done what is wrong like God thinks that I have].”
