But Job answered:

Then Job answered, and said:

Respondens autem Job, dixit:

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

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

Audite, quæso, sermones meos, et agite pœnitentiam.

let me have my say, and then mock on.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Attendite me et obstupescite, et superponite digitum ori vestro.

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

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

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

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

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

Quare ergo impii vivunt, sublevati sunt, confortatique divitiis?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

blithe as lambs the little children go out to play;

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

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

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

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

Tenent tympanum et citharam, et gaudent ad sonitum organi.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Numquid Deus docebit quispiam scientiam, qui excelsos judicat?

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

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

Iste moritur robustus et sanus, dives et felix:

well covered with flesh, his bones full of marrow;

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

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

another, all misery and poverty,

But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches:

alius vero moritur in amaritudine animæ absque ullis opibus:

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

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

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

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

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

Certe novi cogitationes vestras, et sententias contra me iniquas.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ipse ad sepulchra ducetur, et in congerie mortuorum vigilabit.

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

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

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

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

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

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