Respondens autem Job, dixit:

But Job answered:

Then Job answered, and said:

Audite, quæso, sermones meos, et agite pœnitentiam.

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

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

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

let me have my say, and then mock on.

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

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

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?

Attendite me et obstupescite, et superponite digitum ori vestro.

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.

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

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.

Quare ergo impii vivunt, sublevati sunt, confortatique divitiis?

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?

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

blithe as lambs the little children go out to play;

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

Tenent tympanum et citharam, et gaudent ad sonitum organi.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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?

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

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.

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

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?

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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?

Numquid Deus docebit quispiam scientiam, qui excelsos judicat?

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?

Iste moritur robustus et sanus, dives et felix:

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

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

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

well covered with flesh, his bones full of marrow;

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

alius vero moritur in amaritudine animæ absque ullis opibus:

another, all misery and poverty,

But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches:

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

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.

Certe novi cogitationes vestras, et sententias contra me iniquas.

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

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

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

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?

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

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.

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

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.

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

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?

Ipse ad sepulchra ducetur, et in congerie mortuorum vigilabit.

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.

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

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.

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

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?