The Book of Job — Liber Job
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Chapter 22
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Vulgate><Douay-Rheims><Knox Bible
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Respondens autem Eliphaz Themanites, dixit:
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Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
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Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite:
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Numquid Deo potest comparari homo, etiam cum perfectæ fuerit scientiæ?
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Can man be compared with God, even though he were of perfect knowledge?
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A man cannot hope to implead God, even a man of perfect wisdom.
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Quid prodest Deo, si justus fueris? aut quid ei confers, si immaculata fuerit via tua?
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What doth it profit God if thou be just? or what dost thou give him if thy way be unspotted?
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Just though thou be, how is God the better for knowing thou art just? Can stainless life of thine advantage him?
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Numquid timens arguet te, et veniet tecum in judicium,
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Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into judgment:
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Or dost thou think that fear of thee will persuade him to appear in court, and prove thee in the wrong?
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et non propter malitiam tuam plurimam, et infinitas iniquitates tuas?
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And not for thy manifold wickedness, and thy infinite iniquities?
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Must he browbeat thee over a long record of guilt, over many heinous deeds done;
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Abstulisti enim pignus fratrum tuorum sine causa, et nudos spoliasti vestibus.
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For thou hast taken away the pledge of thy brethren without cause, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
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remind thee of the usurer’s pledge needlessly taken, of thy brother left to go naked while thou hadst his garment by thee,
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Aquam lasso non dedisti, et esurienti subtraxisti panem.
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Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast withdrawn bread from the hungry.
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of water grudged to thirsty men, bread refused to the hungry?
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In fortitudine brachii tui possidebas terram, et potentissimus obtinebas eam.
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In the strength of thy arm thou didst possess the land, and being the most mighty thou holdest it.
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Must he tell the story of a rich tyrant that had lands and held to them;
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Viduas dimisisti vacuas, et lacertos pupillorum comminuisti.
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Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless thou hast broken in pieces.
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of widows sent away without redress, orphans left without support, through thy means?
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Propterea circumdatus es laqueis, et conturbat te formido subita.
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Therefore art thou surrounded with snares, and sudden fear troubleth thee.
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Must he say, that is why thou art caught in the snare, dismayed by sudden peril,
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Et putabas te tenebras non visurum, et impetu aquarum inundantium non oppressum iri?
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And didst thou think that thou shouldst not see darkness, and that thou shouldst not be covered with the violence of overflowing waters?
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left benighted when thou thoughtest to see day, overwhelmed by the unexpected flood?
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an non cogitas quod Deus excelsior cælo sit, et super stellarum verticem sublimetur?
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Dost not thou think that God is higher than heaven, and is elevated above the height of the stars?
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Bethink thee, God is high as heaven itself, reaches beyond the uttermost star.
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Et dicis: Quid enim novit Deus? et quasi per caliginem judicat.
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And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it were through a mist.
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Wouldst thou tell us that he has no knowledge of what passes, that he issues his decree blindly,
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Nubes latibulum ejus, nec nostra considerat, et circa cardines cæli perambulat.
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The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our things, and he walketh about the poles of heaven.
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gives no heed to our mortal doings, there where he walks above heaven’s vault, all wrapped in cloud?
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Numquid semitam sæculorum custodire cupis, quam calcaverunt viri iniqui,
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Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men have trodden?
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That were to follow old paths of error, trodden long ago by impious feet.
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qui sublati sunt ante tempus suum, et fluvius subvertit fundamentum eorum?
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Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath overthrown their foundation.
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Snatched away before their time were the men that reasoned so; a flood engulfed the solid ground beneath them.
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Qui dicebant Deo: Recede a nobis: et quasi nihil posset facere Omnipotens, æstimabant eum,
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Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the Almighty as if he could do nothing:
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These, beyond doubt, were men who bade God keep his distance from them, thought the Omnipotent could give them no aid,
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cum ille implesset domos eorum bonis: quorum sententia procul sit a me.
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Whereas he had filled their houses with good things: whose way of thinking be far from me.
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when he had filled their abode with blessings! Not for nothing do I shun their counsels!
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Videbunt justi, et lætabuntur, et innocens subsannabit eos:
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The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn.
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Here was a sight to make the just triumphant, make innocent folk laugh aloud in scorn,
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nonne succisa est erectio eorum? et reliquias eorum devoravit ignis?
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Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not fire devoured the remnants of them?
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to see how their proud hopes vanished, and all that was left of them perished in the flames.
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Acquiesce igitur ei, et habeto pacem, et per hæc habebis fructus optimos.
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Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits.
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Fall in with the Lord’s ways, and be his friend; thou shalt be well rewarded.
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Suscipe ex ore illius legem, et pone sermones ejus in corde tuo.
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Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.
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Let his lips be thy oracle, his words written on thy heart.
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Si reversus fueris ad Omnipotentem, ædificaberis, et longe facies iniquitatem a tabernaculo tuo.
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If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, and shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle.
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Turn back to the Almighty for thy healing, and rid thy dwelling-place of guilt.
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Dabit pro terra silicem, et pro silice torrentes aureos.
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He shall give for earth flint, and for flint torrents of gold.
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Firm rock thou shalt have for shifting dust, and for firm rock streams of gold;
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Eritque Omnipotens contra hostes tuos, et argentum coacervabitur tibi.
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And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver shall be heaped together for thee.
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the Almighty himself will be thy shield, and silver thou shalt never lack.
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Tunc super Omnipotentem deliciis afflues, et elevabis ad Deum faciem tuam.
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Then shalt thou abound in delights in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God.
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In those omnipotent arms thou shalt rest content, thy face upturned towards God himself,
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Rogabis eum, et exaudiet te, et vota tua reddes.
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Thou shalt pray to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay vows.
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thy prayer heard as soon as offered, thy vows paid as soon as due;
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Decernes rem, et veniet tibi, et in viis tuis splendebit lumen.
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Thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall come to thee, and light shall shine in thy ways.
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all thy desire thou shalt have, and all thy paths will be sunshine.
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Qui enim humiliatus fuerit, erit in gloria, et qui inclinaverit oculos, ipse salvabitur.
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For he that hath been humbled, shall be in glory: and he that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved.
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He that was once brought low shall be high in renown; the downcast eye shall win deliverance.
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Salvabitur innocens: salvabitur autem in munditia manuum suarum.
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The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the cleanness of his hands.
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But the innocent shall be kept safe; in a pair of clean hands there was safety ever.