Audi igitur, Job, eloquia mea, et omnes sermones meos ausculta.

Listen, then, Job, to my remonstrances, and hear me out;

Hear therefore, O Job, my speeches, and hearken to all my words.

Ecce aperui os meum: loquatur lingua mea in faucibus meis.

flows my speech free, tongue and throat are loosed;

Behold now I have opened my mouth, let my tongue speak within my jaws.

Simplici corde meo sermones mei, et sententiam puram labia mea loquentur.

here be plain words, uttered in all honesty.

My words are from my upright heart, and my lips shall speak a pure sentence.

Spiritus Dei fecit me, et spiraculum Omnipotentis vivificavit me.

A creature I; God’s spirit made me, the breath of omnipotence woke me to life;

The spirit of God made me, and the breath of the Almighty gave me life.

Si potes, responde mihi, et adversus faciem meam consiste.

if answer thou hast, thou canst meet me fearlessly,

If thou canst, answer me, and stand up against my face.

Ecce, et me sicut et te fecit Deus, et de eodem luto ego quoque formatus sum.

since God made us both, and we were fashioned of one clay;

Behold God hath made me as well as thee, and of the same clay I also was formed.

Verumtamen miraculum meum non te terreat, et eloquentia mea non sit tibi gravis.

here are no terrors to daunt thee, no threats to overbear thee.

But yet let not my wonder terrify thee, and let not my eloquence be burdensome to thee.

Dixisti ergo in auribus meis, et vocem verborum tuorum audivi:

Openly thou hast said, with my own ears to witness it,

Now thou hast said in my hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words:

Mundus sum ego, et absque delicto: immaculatus, et non est iniquitas in me.

Innocent though I be of all wrong, free from the stain of guilt,

I am clean, and without sin: I am unspotted, and there is no iniquity in me.

Quia querelas in me reperit, ideo arbitratus est me inimicum sibi.

God has picked a quarrel with me; that is the reason, and no other, why he treats me as an enemy,

Because he hath found complaints against me, therefore he hath counted me for his enemy.

Posuit in nervo pedes meos; custodivit omnes semitas meas.

holds me so close a prisoner, and watches me wherever I go.

He hath put my feet in the stocks, he hath observed all my paths.

Hoc est ergo in quo non es justificatus: respondebo tibi, quia major sit Deus homine.

But there is no substance in thy plea; I tell thee, man cannot be matched with God.

Now this is the thing in which thou art not justified: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man.

Adversus eum contendis, quod non ad omnia verba responderit tibi?

What, wouldst thou complain that he does not meet these charges of thine?

Dost thou strive against him, because he hath not answered thee to all words?

Semel loquitur Deus, et secundo idipsum non repetit.

Know, then, that God warns us once, but does not repeat his warning.

God speaketh once, and repeateth not the selfsame thing the second time.

Per somnium, in visione nocturna, quando irruit sopor super homines, et dormiunt in lectulo,

Sometimes in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they lie abed,

By a dream in a vision by night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, and they are sleeping in their beds:

tunc aperit aures virorum, et erudiens eos instruit disciplina,

he speaks words of revelation, to teach them the lesson they need.

Then he openeth the ears of men, and teaching instructeth them in what they are to learn.

ut avertat hominem ab his quæ facit, et liberet eum de superbia,

This is one means by which he will turn a man away from his designs, purge him of his pride;

That he may withdraw a man from the things he is doing, and may deliver him from pride.

eruens animam ejus a corruptione, et vitam illius ut non transeat in gladium.

and so the grave is disappointed, the sword misses its prey.

Rescuing his soul from corruption: and his life from passing to the sword.

Increpat quoque per dolorem in lectulo, et omnia ossa ejus marcescere facit.

Or else he will use the pains of the sick-bed for a man’s correction, and leave his whole frame wasted with disease.

He rebuketh also by sorrow in the bed, and he maketh all his bones to wither.

Abominabilis ei fit in vita sua panis, et animæ illius cibus ante desiderabilis.

Evil days, when he sickens at the thought of food, of all the dainties he once loved so well;

Bread becometh abominable to him in his life, and to his soul the meat which before he desired.

Tabescet caro ejus, et ossa, quæ tecta fuerant, nudabuntur.

when the flesh pines and the bones have nought to cover them,

His flesh shall be consumed away, and his bones that were covered shall be made bare.

Appropinquavit corruptioni anima ejus, et vita illius mortiferis.

when death encroaches on life, and the powers of darkness daunt his spirits!

His soul hath drawn near to corruption, and his life to the destroyers.

Si fuerit pro eo angelus loquens, unus de millibus, ut annuntiet hominis æquitatem,

Then it is an angel’s task, as many angels there be, to interpret his need, and shew him where man’s good lies;

If there shall be an angel speaking for him, one among thousands, to declare man’s uprightness,

miserebitur ejus, et dicet: Libera eum, ut non descendat in corruptionem: inveni in quo ei propitier.

and the word of mercy will be spoken, Let be, the grave is not for him; I have found the secret of his ransoming;

He shall have mercy on him, and shall say: Deliver him, that he may not go down to corruption: I have found wherein I may be merciful to him.

Consumpta est caro ejus a suppliciis: revertatur ad dies adolescentiæ suæ.

enough, now, torment has racked him, let him return to the vigour of his youth!

His flesh is consumed with punishments, let him return to the days of his youth.

Deprecabitur Deum, et placabilis ei erit: et videbit faciem ejus in jubilo, et reddet homini justitiam suam.

So, God’s pardon wooed and won, the sick man stands in his presence once more, all thankfulness, restored to favour.

He shall pray to God, and he will be gracious to him: and he shall see his face with joy, and he will render to man his justice.

Respiciet homines, et dicet: Peccavi, et vere deliqui, et ut eram dignus, non recepi.

He turns to the bystanders and makes acknowledgement, A sinner I, no doubt but I have greatly offended, my punishment was less than I deserved!

He shall look upon men, and shall say: I have sinned, and indeed I have offended, and I have not received what I have deserved.

Liberavit animam suam, ne pergeret in interitum, sed vivens lucem videret.

Now God has reprieved me from death’s exile, I am to live still, and see the light.

He hath delivered his soul from going into destruction, that it may live and see the light.

Ecce hæc omnia operatur Deus tribus vicibus per singulos,

Such mercy, not once or twice, God shews to man,

Behold, all these things God worketh three times within every one.

ut revocet animas eorum a corruptione, et illuminet luce viventium.

rescuing him from the grave, rekindling the lamp of life for him.

That he may withdraw their souls from corruption, and enlighten them with the light of the living.

Attende, Job, et audi me: et tace, dum ego loquor.

Listen to me, then, Job, and hear me out;

Attend, Job, and hearken to me: and hold thy peace, whilst I speak.

Si autem habes quod loquaris, responde mihi: loquere, volo enim te apparere justum.

make answer to me, if answer thou canst, for I would fain see thee acquitted.

But if thou hast any thing to say, answer me, speak: for I would have thee to appear just.

Quod si non habes, audi me: tace, et docebo te sapientiam.

If answer thou hast none, listen to me in silence while I unfold the truth.

And if thou have not, hear me: hold thy peace, and I will teach thee wisdom.