Vir erat in terra Hus, nomine Job: et erat vir ille simplex, et rectus, ac timens Deum, et recedens a malo.

There was a man in the land of Hus, whose name was Job, and that man was simple and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil.

There was a man dwelling in the land of Hus once, Job was the name of him, that was true and honest; ever he feared God, and kept far from wrong-doing.

Natique sunt ei septem filii, et tres filiæ.

And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.

Seven sons he had, and three daughters;

Et fuit possessio ejus septem millia ovium, et tria millia camelorum, quingenta quoque juga boum, et quingentæ asinæ, ac familia multa nimis: eratque vir ille magnus inter omnes orientales.

And his possession was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a family exceeding great: and this man was great among all the people of the east.

and for wealth, he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses, and servants a many; in all the East none was Job’s rival.

Et ibant filii ejus, et faciebant convivium per domos, unusquisque in die suo. Et mittentes vocabant tres sorores suas, ut comederent et biberent cum eis.

And his sons went, and made a feast by houses every one in his day. And sending they called their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

And this custom his sons had in feasting, each invited the rest in turn; at such times they would send for their three sisters to eat and drink beside them.

Cumque in orbem transissent dies convivii, mittebat ad eos Job, et sanctificabat illos: consurgensque diluculo, offerebat holocausta pro singulis. Dicebat enim: Ne forte peccaverint filii mei, et benedixerint Deo in cordibus suis. Sic faciebat Job cunctis diebus.

And when the days of their feasting were gone about, Job sent to them, and sanctified them: and rising up early offered holocausts for every one of them. For he said: Lest perhaps my sons have sinned, and have blessed God in their hearts. So did Job all days.

And ever when their week of feasting was over, Job would send for them, and have them rid of all defilement; next morning, it was his first care to offer burnt-sacrifice for each of them. Who knows, thought he, but they may have committed some fault, these children of mine? Who knows but they may have slighted God in their secret thoughts? Never would he let the day pass without burnt-sacrifice.

Quadam autem die, cum venissent filii Dei ut assisterent coram Domino, affuit inter eos etiam Satan.

Now on a certain day when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, Satan also was present among them.

One day, when the heavenly powers stood waiting upon the Lord’s presence, and among them, man’s Enemy,

Cui dixit Dominus: Unde venis? Qui respondens, ait: Circuivi terram, et perambulavi eam.

And the Lord said to him: Whence comest thou? And he answered and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it.

the Lord asked him, where he had been? Roaming about the earth, said he, to and fro about the earth.

Dixitque Dominus ad eum: Numquid considerasti servum meum Job, quod non sit ei similis in terra, homo simplex et rectus, ac timens Deum, et recedens a malo?

And the Lord said to him: Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a simple and upright man, and fearing God, and avoiding evil?

Why then, the Lord said, thou hast seen a servant of mine called Job. Here is a true man, an honest man, none like him on earth; ever he fears his God, and keeps far from wrong-doing.

Cui respondens Satan, ait: Numquid Job frustra timet Deum?

And Satan answering, said: Doth Job fear God in vain?

Job fears his God, the Enemy answered, and loses nothing by it.

nonne tu vallasti eum, ac domum ejus, universamque substantiam per circuitum; operibus manuum ejus benedixisti, et possessio ejus crevit in terra?

Hast not thou made a fence for him, and his house, and all his substance round about, blessed the works of his hands, and his possession hath increased on the earth?

Sheltered his life by thy protection, sheltered his home, his property; thy blessing on all he undertakes; worldly goods that still go on increasing; he loses nothing.

sed extende paululum manum tuam et tange cuncta quæ possidet, nisi in faciem benedixerit tibi.

But stretch forth thy hand a little, and touch all that he hath, and see if he blesseth thee not to thy face.

One little touch of thy hand, assailing all that wealth of his! Then see how he will turn and blaspheme thee.

Dixit ergo Dominus ad Satan: Ecce universa quæ habet in manu tua sunt: tantum in eum ne extendas manum tuam. Egressusque est Satan a facie Domini.

Then the Lord said to Satan: Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand: only put not forth thy hand upon his person. And Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

Be it so, the Lord answered; with all his possessions do what thou wilt, so thou leave himself unharmed. And with that, the Enemy left the Lord’s presence, and withdrew.

Cum autem quadam die filii et filiæ ejus comederent et biberent vinum in domo fratris sui primogeniti,

Now upon a certain day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother,

And now it was the turn of Job’s children to sit over their feasting and their wine at the house of the eldest brother.

nuntius venit ad Job, qui diceret: Boves arabant, et asinæ pascebantur juxta eos:

There came a messenger to Job, and said: The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them,

That day, a messenger brought Job news of his oxen and asses. The oxen were a-ploughing, said he, and the asses grazing near them,

et irruerunt Sabæi, tuleruntque omnia, et pueros percusserunt gladio: et evasi ego solus, ut nuntiarem tibi.

And the Sabeans rushed in, and took all away, and slew the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell thee.

when on a sudden a band of Sabæans swept down on them, and carried all away. As for thy men, the Sabæans put them to the sword, and none lives to tell the tale but I.

Cumque adhuc ille loqueretur, venit alter, et dixit: Ignis Dei cecidit e cælo, et tactas oves puerosque consumpsit: et effugi ego solus, ut nuntiarem tibi.

And while he was yet speaking, another came, and said: The fire of God fell from heaven, and striking the sheep and the servants, hath consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell thee.

Even as he spoke, another messenger came in with news of the sheep, how God’s lightning had fallen, devouring sheep and shepherd, so that none was left to tell the tale but he.

Sed et illo adhuc loquente, venit alius, et dixit: Chaldæi fecerunt tres turmas, et invaserunt camelos, et tulerunt eos, necnon et pueros percusserunt gladio: et ego fugi solus, ut nuntiarem tibi.

And while he also was yet speaking, there came another, and said: The Chaldeans made three troops, and have fallen upon the camels, and taken them, moreover they have slain the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell thee.

And upon the heels of that, in came a third to say that robbers from Chaldæa, in three several bands, had closed in upon the camels and driven them away, killing the men who tended them, so that none was left to tell the tale but he.

Adhuc loquebatur ille, et ecce alius intravit, et dixit: Filiis tuis et filiabus vescentibus et bibentibus vinum in domo fratris sui primogeniti,

He was yet speaking, and behold another came in, and said: Thy sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their elder brother:

And before this one had finished his story, a fourth messenger came in. I come, said he, from thy eldest son’s house, where but now thy sons and daughters sat at their feasting and their wine.

repente ventus vehemens irruit a regione deserti, et concussit quatuor angulos domus: quæ corruens oppressit liberos tuos, et mortui sunt: et effugi ego solus, ut nuntiarem tibi.

A violent wind came on a sudden from the side of the desert, and shook the four corners of the house, and it fell upon thy children and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell thee.

All on a sudden, came a tempestuous wind from across the desert, and beat so on every corner of the house that it fell in, crushing thy children to death amid the ruins of it; none lives to tell the tale but I.

Tunc surrexit Job, et scidit vestimenta sua: et tonso capite corruens in terram, adoravit,

Then Job rose up, and rent his garments, and having shaven his head fell down upon the ground and worshipped,

Then rose up Job, and rent his garments about him; and he shaved his head bare, and fell down to earth to do reverence.

et dixit: Nudus egressus sum de utero matris meæ, et nudus revertar illuc. Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit; sicut Domino placuit, ita factum est. Sit nomen Domini benedictum.

And said: Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord.

Naked I came, said he, when I left my mother’s womb, and whence I came, naked I must go. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; nothing is here befallen but what was the Lord’s will; blessed be the name of the Lord.

In omnibus his non peccavit Job labiis suis, neque stultum quid contra Deum locutus est.

In all these things Job sinned not by his lips, nor spoke he any foolish thing against God.

In all this, Job guarded his lips well, nor challenged with human folly God’s wisdom.