Job 21
1 respondens autem Iob dixit
Then Job answered:
2 audite quaeso sermones meos et agetis paenitentiam
“Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me.
3 sustinete me ut et ego loquar et post mea si videbitur verba ridete
Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
4 numquid contra hominem disputatio mea est ut merito non debeam contristari
Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?
5 adtendite me et obstupescite et superponite digitum ori vestro
Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.
6 et ego quando recordatus fuero pertimesco et concutit carnem meam tremor
When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.
7 quare ergo impii vivunt sublevati sunt confortatique divitiis
Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
8 semen eorum permanet coram eis propinquorum turba et nepotum in conspectu eorum
Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.
9 domus eorum securae sunt et pacatae et non est virga Dei super illos
Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
10 bos eorum concepit et non abortit vacca peperit et non est privata fetu suo
Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.
11 egrediuntur quasi greges parvuli eorum et infantes eorum exultant lusibus
They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
12 tenent tympanum et citharam et gaudent ad sonitum organi
singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute.
They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace. (Sheol h7585)
14 qui dixerunt Deo recede a nobis et scientiam viarum tuarum nolumus
Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.
15 quid est Omnipotens ut serviamus ei et quid nobis prodest si oraverimus illum
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
16 verumtamen quia non sunt in manu eorum bona sua consilium impiorum longe sit a me
Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
17 quotiens lucerna impiorum extinguetur et superveniet eis inundatio et dolores dividet furoris sui
How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?
18 erunt sicut paleae ante faciem venti et sicut favilla quam turbo dispergit
Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
19 Deus servabit filiis illius dolorem patris et cum reddiderit tunc sciet
It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.
20 videbunt oculi eius interfectionem suam et de furore Omnipotentis bibet
Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
21 quid enim ad eum pertinet de domo sua post se et si numerus mensuum eius dimidietur
For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out?
22 numquid Deum quispiam docebit scientiam qui excelsos iudicat
Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high?
23 iste moritur robustus et sanus dives et felix
One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease.
24 viscera eius plena sunt adipe et medullis ossa illius inrigantur
His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow.
25 alius vero moritur in amaritudine animae absque ullis opibus
Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity.
26 et tamen simul in pulverem dormient et vermes operient eos
But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.
27 certe novi cogitationes vestras et sententias contra me iniquas
Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28 dicitis enim ubi est domus principis et ubi tabernacula impiorum
For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’
29 interrogate quemlibet de viatoribus et haec eadem eum intellegere cognoscetis
Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports?
30 quia in diem perditionis servabitur malus et ad diem furoris ducitur
Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
31 quis arguet coram eo viam eius et quae fecit quis reddet illi
Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done?
32 ipse ad sepulchra ducetur et in congerie mortuorum vigilabit
He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.
33 dulcis fuit glareis Cocyti et post se omnem hominem trahet et ante se innumerabiles
The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.
34 quomodo igitur consolamini me frustra cum responsio vestra repugnare ostensa sit veritati
So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”
