But Job answered:

Respondens autem Job, dixit:

Then Job answered, and said:

Listen, do but listen to me, and then, if you will, repent of your charity;

Audite, quæso, sermones meos, et agite pœnitentiam.

Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance.

let me have my say, and then mock on.

Sustinete me, et ego loquar: et post mea, si videbitur, verba, ridete.

Suffer me, and I will speak, and after, if you please, laugh at my words.

It is not as if I bore a grudge against man; I have better reason than that to be indignant.

Numquid contra hominem disputatio mea est, ut merito non debeam contristari?

Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to be troubled?

Mark my complaint well, and you shall be astonished, hold your breath in amazement,

Attendite me et obstupescite, et superponite digitum ori vestro.

Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your finger on your mouth.

as I too tremble with dismay at the thought of it.

Et ego, quando recordatus fuero, pertimesco, et concutit carnem meam tremor.

As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.

How is it that godless men live on, meet with advancement, enjoy their riches undisturbed?

Quare ergo impii vivunt, sublevati sunt, confortatique divitiis?

Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches?

Long they live, to see their posterity thrive about them, kinsmen and grandsons thronging all around.

Semen eorum permanet coram eis: propinquorum turba et nepotum in conspectu eorum.

Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen, and of children’s children in their sight.

Safe and sound their dwelling-place; God’s scourge passes them by;

Domus eorum securæ sunt et pacatæ, et non est virga Dei super illos.

Their houses are secure and peaceable, and the rod of God is not upon them.

never bull of theirs failed to gender, cow to calve;

Bos eorum concepit, et non abortivit: vacca peperit, et non est privata fœtu suo.

Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow has calved, and is not deprived of her fruit.

blithe as lambs the little children go out to play;

Egrediuntur quasi greges parvuli eorum, et infantes eorum exultant lusibus.

Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children dance and play.

everywhere is tambour and harp-playing, everywhere the pipe’s merry note.

Tenent tympanum et citharam, et gaudent ad sonitum organi.

They take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.

So, full of ease, their life passes, and they go down at last without a struggle to the grave.

Ducunt in bonis dies suos, et in puncto ad inferna descendunt.

They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell.

And these are the men who bade God keep his distance from them, refused to learn his will;

Qui dixerunt Deo: Recede a nobis, et scientiam viarum tuarum nolumus.

Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.

what right had he, the Omnipotent, to their obedience, what advantage would they gain by offering prayer to him?

Quis est Omnipotens, ut serviamus ei? et quid nobis prodest si oraverimus illum?

Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what doth it profit us if we pray to him?

These are the godless folk whose counsel I must shun because they cannot command their own good fortune!

Verumtamen quia non sunt in manu eorum bona sua, consilium impiorum longe sit a me.

Yet because their good things are not in their hand, may the counsel of the wicked be far from me.

Tell me, how often in very deed are the hopes of the wicked extinguished, engulfed by the flood? Does God’s vengeance often deal out misfortune to them,

Quoties lucerna impiorum extinguetur, et superveniet eis inundatio, et dolores dividet furoris sui?

How often shall the lamp of the wicked be put out, and a deluge come upon them, and he shall distribute the sorrows of his wrath?

sweeping them away like chaff before the wind, ashes beneath the storm?

Erunt sicut paleæ ante faciem venti, et sicut favilla quam turbo dispergit.

They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as ashes which the whirlwind scattereth.

But perhaps God is reserving for the children punishment of their father’s sins? Nay, let the sinner himself feel the retribution when it comes;

Deus servabit filiis illius dolorem patris, et cum reddiderit, tunc sciet.

God shall lay up the sorrow of the father for his children: and when he shall repay, then shall he know.

his own eyes must see the blow fall, his own lips drink in the divine vengeance!

Videbunt oculi ejus interfectionem suam, et de furore Omnipotentis bibet.

His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

Little he cares what befalls his posterity after he is gone, though halved be the time of its continuance.

Quid enim ad eum pertinet de domo sua post se, et si numerus mensium ejus dimidietur?

For what is it to him what befalleth his house after him: and if the number of his months be diminished by one half?

The God that passes judgement on his angels needs none to instruct him!

Numquid Deus docebit quispiam scientiam, qui excelsos judicat?

Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that are high?

Here is one man goes to his death sound and strong, rich and happy,

Iste moritur robustus et sanus, dives et felix:

One man dieth strong, and hale, rich and happy.

well covered with flesh, his bones full of marrow;

viscera ejus plena sunt adipe, et medullis ossa illius irrigantur:

His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with marrow.

another, all misery and poverty,

alius vero moritur in amaritudine animæ absque ullis opibus:

But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches:

and he, no less than the other, has dust for bed, worms for coverlet.

et tamen simul in pulvere dormient, et vermes operient eos.

And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall cover them.

Spare me those thoughts I know already, those reasons that would crush me!

Certe novi cogitationes vestras, et sententias contra me iniquas.

Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against me.

What becomes of the tyrant’s palace, of the evil-doer’s home, at last?

Dicitis enim: Ubi est domus principis? et ubi tabernacula impiorum?

For you say: Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?

Ask any wayfarer (you say) that knows them, and you shall hear the same account of the matter:

Interrogate quemlibet de viatoribus, et hæc eadem illum intelligere cognoscetis:

Ask any one of them that go by the way, and you shall perceive that he knoweth these same things.

The rogue’s villainy is being reserved for future punishment, he is being slowly drawn on to his doom.

quia in diem perditionis servatur malus, et ad diem furoris ducetur.

Because the wicked man is reserved to the day of destruction, and he shall be brought to the day of wrath.

Fools, how can anyone bring home his guilt to him now, punish the wrong he did?

Quis arguet coram eo viam ejus? et quæ fecit, quis reddet illi?

Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?

He is being slowly drawn on to his tomb, where he shall wait on in the ranks of the dead;

Ipse ad sepulchra ducetur, et in congerie mortuorum vigilabit.

He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the heap of the dead.

made welcome in the dark valley, whither all men shall follow, as numberless that went before him.

Dulcis fuit glareis Cocyti, et post se omnem hominem trahet, et ante se innumerabiles.

He hath been acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus, and he shall draw every man after him, and there are innumerable before him.

Vain is all your consolation, while the answer you give me matches so ill with truth.

Quomodo igitur consolamini me frustra, cum responsio vestra repugnare ostensa sit veritati?

How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is shewn to be repugnant to truth?