The Book of Job — Liber Job
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Chapter 21
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Douay-Rheims><Vulgate><Knox Bible
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Then Job answered, and said:
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Respondens autem Job, dixit:
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But Job answered:
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Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance.
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Audite, quæso, sermones meos, et agite pœnitentiam.
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Listen, do but listen to me, and then, if you will, repent of your charity;
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Suffer me, and I will speak, and after, if you please, laugh at my words.
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Sustinete me, et ego loquar: et post mea, si videbitur, verba, ridete.
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let me have my say, and then mock on.
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Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to be troubled?
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Numquid contra hominem disputatio mea est, ut merito non debeam contristari?
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It is not as if I bore a grudge against man; I have better reason than that to be indignant.
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Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your finger on your mouth.
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Attendite me et obstupescite, et superponite digitum ori vestro.
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Mark my complaint well, and you shall be astonished, hold your breath in amazement,
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As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
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Et ego, quando recordatus fuero, pertimesco, et concutit carnem meam tremor.
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as I too tremble with dismay at the thought of it.
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Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches?
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Quare ergo impii vivunt, sublevati sunt, confortatique divitiis?
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How is it that godless men live on, meet with advancement, enjoy their riches undisturbed?
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Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen, and of children’s children in their sight.
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Semen eorum permanet coram eis: propinquorum turba et nepotum in conspectu eorum.
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Long they live, to see their posterity thrive about them, kinsmen and grandsons thronging all around.
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Their houses are secure and peaceable, and the rod of God is not upon them.
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Domus eorum securæ sunt et pacatæ, et non est virga Dei super illos.
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Safe and sound their dwelling-place; God’s scourge passes them by;
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Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow has calved, and is not deprived of her fruit.
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Bos eorum concepit, et non abortivit: vacca peperit, et non est privata fœtu suo.
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never bull of theirs failed to gender, cow to calve;
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Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children dance and play.
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Egrediuntur quasi greges parvuli eorum, et infantes eorum exultant lusibus.
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blithe as lambs the little children go out to play;
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They take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
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Tenent tympanum et citharam, et gaudent ad sonitum organi.
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everywhere is tambour and harp-playing, everywhere the pipe’s merry note.
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They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell.
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Ducunt in bonis dies suos, et in puncto ad inferna descendunt.
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So, full of ease, their life passes, and they go down at last without a struggle to the grave.
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Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
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Qui dixerunt Deo: Recede a nobis, et scientiam viarum tuarum nolumus.
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And these are the men who bade God keep his distance from them, refused to learn his will;
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Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what doth it profit us if we pray to him?
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Quis est Omnipotens, ut serviamus ei? et quid nobis prodest si oraverimus illum?
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what right had he, the Omnipotent, to their obedience, what advantage would they gain by offering prayer to him?
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Yet because their good things are not in their hand, may the counsel of the wicked be far from me.
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Verumtamen quia non sunt in manu eorum bona sua, consilium impiorum longe sit a me.
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These are the godless folk whose counsel I must shun because they cannot command their own good fortune!
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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?
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Quoties lucerna impiorum extinguetur, et superveniet eis inundatio, et dolores dividet furoris sui?
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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,
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They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as ashes which the whirlwind scattereth.
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Erunt sicut paleæ ante faciem venti, et sicut favilla quam turbo dispergit.
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sweeping them away like chaff before the wind, ashes beneath the storm?
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God shall lay up the sorrow of the father for his children: and when he shall repay, then shall he know.
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Deus servabit filiis illius dolorem patris, et cum reddiderit, tunc sciet.
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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;
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His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
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Videbunt oculi ejus interfectionem suam, et de furore Omnipotentis bibet.
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his own eyes must see the blow fall, his own lips drink in the divine vengeance!
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For what is it to him what befalleth his house after him: and if the number of his months be diminished by one half?
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Quid enim ad eum pertinet de domo sua post se, et si numerus mensium ejus dimidietur?
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Little he cares what befalls his posterity after he is gone, though halved be the time of its continuance.
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Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that are high?
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Numquid Deus docebit quispiam scientiam, qui excelsos judicat?
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The God that passes judgement on his angels needs none to instruct him!
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One man dieth strong, and hale, rich and happy.
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Iste moritur robustus et sanus, dives et felix:
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Here is one man goes to his death sound and strong, rich and happy,
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His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
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viscera ejus plena sunt adipe, et medullis ossa illius irrigantur:
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well covered with flesh, his bones full of marrow;
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But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches:
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alius vero moritur in amaritudine animæ absque ullis opibus:
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another, all misery and poverty,
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And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall cover them.
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et tamen simul in pulvere dormient, et vermes operient eos.
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and he, no less than the other, has dust for bed, worms for coverlet.
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Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against me.
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Certe novi cogitationes vestras, et sententias contra me iniquas.
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Spare me those thoughts I know already, those reasons that would crush me!
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For you say: Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
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Dicitis enim: Ubi est domus principis? et ubi tabernacula impiorum?
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What becomes of the tyrant’s palace, of the evil-doer’s home, at last?
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Ask any one of them that go by the way, and you shall perceive that he knoweth these same things.
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Interrogate quemlibet de viatoribus, et hæc eadem illum intelligere cognoscetis:
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Ask any wayfarer (you say) that knows them, and you shall hear the same account of the matter:
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Because the wicked man is reserved to the day of destruction, and he shall be brought to the day of wrath.
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quia in diem perditionis servatur malus, et ad diem furoris ducetur.
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The rogue’s villainy is being reserved for future punishment, he is being slowly drawn on to his doom.
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Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
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Quis arguet coram eo viam ejus? et quæ fecit, quis reddet illi?
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Fools, how can anyone bring home his guilt to him now, punish the wrong he did?
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He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the heap of the dead.
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Ipse ad sepulchra ducetur, et in congerie mortuorum vigilabit.
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He is being slowly drawn on to his tomb, where he shall wait on in the ranks of the dead;
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He hath been acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus, and he shall draw every man after him, and there are innumerable before him.
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Dulcis fuit glareis Cocyti, et post se omnem hominem trahet, et ante se innumerabiles.
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made welcome in the dark valley, whither all men shall follow, as numberless that went before him.
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How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is shewn to be repugnant to truth?
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Quomodo igitur consolamini me frustra, cum responsio vestra repugnare ostensa sit veritati?
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Vain is all your consolation, while the answer you give me matches so ill with truth.