1 Then Job answered and said,

1 Respondens autem Job, dixit:

2 I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.

2 ¶ Audivi frequenter talia:
consolatores onerosi omnes vos estis.

3 Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?

3 Numquid habebunt finem verba ventosa?
aut aliquid tibi molestum est, si loquaris?

4 I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.

4 Poteram et ego similia vestri loqui,
atque utinam esset anima vestra pro anima mea:

5 consolarer et ego vos sermonibus,
et moverem caput meum super vos;

5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.

6 roborarem vos ore meo,
et moverem labia mea, quasi parcens vobis.

6 Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?

7 Sed quid agam? Si locutus fuero, non quiescet dolor meus,
et si tacuero, non recedet a me.

7 But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.

8 Nunc autem oppressit me dolor meus,
et in nihilum redacti sunt omnes artus mei.

8 And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.

9 Rugæ meæ testimonium dicunt contra me,
et suscitatur falsiloquus adversus faciem meam, contradicens mihi.

9 He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.

10 Collegit furorem suum in me,
et comminans mihi, infremuit contra me dentibus suis:
hostis meus terribilibus oculis me intuitus est.

10 They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.

11 Aperuerunt super me ora sua,
et exprobrantes percusserunt maxillam meam:
satiati sunt pœnis meis.

11 God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.

12 Conclusit me Deus apud iniquum,
et manibus impiorum me tradidit.

12 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

13 Ego ille quondam opulentus, repente contritus sum:
tenuit cervicem meam, confregit me,
et posuit me sibi quasi in signum.

13 His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.

14 Circumdedit me lanceis suis;
convulneravit lumbos meos:
non pepercit, et effudit in terra viscera mea.

14 He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant.

15 Concidit me vulnere super vulnus:
irruit in me quasi gigas.

15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.

16 Saccum consui super cutem meam,
et operui cinere carnem meam.

16 My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;

17 Facies mea intumuit a fletu,
et palpebræ meæ caligaverunt.

17 Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.

18 Hæc passus sum absque iniquitate manus meæ,
cum haberem mundas ad Deum preces.

18 O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.

19 Terra, ne operias sanguinem meum,
neque inveniat in te locum latendi clamor meus:

19 Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.

20 ecce enim in cælo testis meus,
et conscius meus in excelsis.

20 My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.

21 Verbosi amici mei:
ad Deum stillat oculus meus:

21 O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!

22 atque utinam sic judicaretur vir cum Deo,
quomodo judicatur filius hominis cum collega suo.

22 When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

23 Ecce enim breves anni transeunt,
et semitam per quam non revertar ambulo.