1 Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?

1 Ab Omnipotente non sunt abscondita tempora:
qui autem noverunt eum,
ignorant dies illius.

2 Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.

2 Alii terminos transtulerunt;
diripuerunt greges, et paverunt eos.

3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge.

3 Asinum pupillorum abegerunt,
et abstulerunt pro pignore bovem viduæ.

4 They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

4 Subverterunt pauperum viam,
et oppresserunt pariter mansuetos terræ.

5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

5 Alii quasi onagri in deserto egrediuntur ad opus suum:
vigilantes ad prædam, præparant panem liberis.

6 They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.

6 Agrum non suum demetunt,
et vineam ejus, quem vi oppresserint, vindemiant.

7 They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.

7 Nudos dimittunt homines, indumenta tollentes,
quibus non est operimentum in frigore:

8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

8 quos imbres montium rigant,
et non habentes velamen, amplexantur lapides.

9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.

9 Vim fecerunt deprædantes pupillos,
et vulgum pauperem spoliaverunt.

10 They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;

10 Nudis et incedentibus absque vestitu,
et esurientibus tulerunt spicas.

11 Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.

11 Inter acervos eorum meridiati sunt,
qui calcatis torcularibus sitiunt.

12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

12 De civitatibus fecerunt viros gemere,
et anima vulneratorum clamavit:
et Deus inultum abire non patitur.

13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

13 Ipsi fuerunt rebelles lumini:
nescierunt vias ejus,
nec reversi sunt per semitas ejus.

14 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

14 Mane primo consurgit homicida;
interficit egenum et pauperem:
per noctem vero erit quasi fur.

15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.

15 Oculus adulteri observat caliginem,
dicens: Non me videbit oculus:
et operiet vultum suum.

16 In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.

16 Perfodit in tenebris domos,
sicut in die condixerant sibi,
et ignoraverunt lucem.

17 For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

17 Si subito apparuerit aurora, arbitrantur umbram mortis:
et sic in tenebris quasi in luce ambulant.

18 He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

18 Levis est super faciem aquæ:
maledicta sit pars ejus in terra,
nec ambulet per viam vinearum.

19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.

19 Ad nimium calorem transeat ab aquis nivium,
et usque ad inferos peccatum illius.

20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.

20 Obliviscatur ejus misericordia; dulcedo illius vermes:
non sit in recordatione,
sed conteratur quasi lignum infructuosum.

21 He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

21 Pavit enim sterilem quæ non parit,
et viduæ bene non fecit.

22 He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

22 Detraxit fortes in fortitudine sua,
et cum steterit, non credet vitæ suæ.

23 Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

23 Dedit ei Deus locum pœnitentiæ,
et ille abutitur eo in superbiam:
oculi autem ejus sunt in viis illius.

24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

24 Elevati sunt ad modicum, et non subsistent:
et humiliabuntur sicut omnia, et auferentur,
et sicut summitates spicarum conterentur.

25 And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

25 Quod si non est ita, quis me potest arguere esse mentitum,
et ponere ante Deum verba mea?