Job 16
1 respondens autem Iob dixit
And Job answers and says:
2 audivi frequenter talia consolatores onerosi omnes vos estis
“I have heard many such things, Miserable comforters [are] you all.
3 numquid habebunt finem verba ventosa aut aliquid tibi molestum est si loquaris
Is there an end to words of wind? Or what emboldens you that you answer?
4 poteram et ego similia vestri loqui atque utinam esset anima vestra pro anima mea consolarer et ego vos sermonibus et moverem caput meum super vos
I also, like you, might speak, If your soul were in my soul’s stead. I might join against you with words, And nod at you with my head.
5 roborarem vos ore meo et moverem labia quasi parcens vobis
I might harden you with my mouth, And the moving of my lips might be sparing.
6 sed quid agam si locutus fuero non quiescet dolor meus et si tacuero non recedet a me
If I speak, my pain is not restrained, And I cease—what goes from me?
7 nunc autem oppressit me dolor meus et in nihili redacti sunt omnes artus mei
Only, now, it has wearied me; You have desolated all my company,
8 rugae meae testimonium dicunt contra me et suscitatur falsiloquus adversus faciem meam contradicens mihi
And You loathe me, For it has been a witness, And my failure rises up against me, It testifies in my face.
9 collegit furorem suum in me et comminans mihi infremuit contra me dentibus suis hostis meus terribilibus oculis me intuitus est
His anger has torn, and He hates me, He has gnashed at me with His teeth, My adversary sharpens His eyes for me.
10 aperuerunt super me ora sua exprobrantes percusserunt maxillam meam satiati sunt poenis meis
They have gaped on me with their mouth, In reproach they have struck my cheeks, Together they set themselves against me.
11 conclusit me Deus apud iniquum et manibus impiorum me tradidit
God shuts me up to the perverse, And turns me over to the hands of the wicked.
12 ego ille quondam opulentus repente contritus sum tenuit cervicem meam confregit me et posuit sibi quasi in signum
I have been at ease, and He breaks me, And He has laid hold on my neck, And He breaks me in pieces, And He raises me to Him for a mark.
13 circumdedit me lanceis suis convulneravit lumbos meos non pepercit et effudit in terra viscera mea
His archers go around against me. He split my reins, and does not spare, He pours out my gall to the earth.
14 concidit me vulnere super vulnus inruit in me quasi gigans
He breaks me—breach on breach, He runs on me as a mighty one.
15 saccum consui super cutem meam et operui cinere cornu meum
I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, And have rolled my horn in the dust.
16 facies mea intumuit a fletu et palpebrae meae caligaverunt
My face is foul with weeping, And on my eyelids [is] death-shade.
17 haec passus sum absque iniquitate manus meae cum haberem mundas ad Deum preces
Not for violence in my hands, And my prayer [is] pure.
18 terra ne operias sanguinem meum neque inveniat locum in te latendi clamor meus
O earth, do not cover my blood! And let there not be a place for my cry.
19 ecce enim in caelo testis meus et conscius meus in excelsis
Also, now, behold, my witness [is] in the heavens, And my testifier in the high places.
20 verbosi mei amici mei ad Deum stillat oculus meus
My interpreter [is] my friend, My eye has dropped to God;
21 atque utinam sic iudicaretur vir cum Deo quomodo iudicatur filius hominis cum collega suo
And He reasons for a man with God, As a son of man for his friend.
22 ecce enim breves anni transeunt et semitam per quam non revertar ambulo
When a few years come, Then I go [on] the path of no return.”
