23:1 Respondens autem Job, ait :
23:1 Then Job answered, and said:
23:2 Nunc quoque in amaritudine est sermo meus, et manus plagæ meæ aggravata est super gemitum meum.
23:2 Now also my words are in bitterness, and the hand of my scourge is more grievous than my mourning.
23:3 Quis mihi tribuat ut cognoscam et inveniam illum, et veniam usque ad solium ejus ?
23:3 Who will grant me that I might know and find him, and come even to his throne?
23:4 Ponam coram eo judicium, et os meum replebo increpationibus :
23:4 I would set judgment before him, and would fill my mouth with complaints.
23:5 ut sciam verba quæ mihi respondeat, et intelligam quid loquatur mihi.
23:5 That I might know the words that he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me.
23:6 Nolo multa fortitudine contendat mecum, nec magnitudinis suæ mole me premat.
23:6 I would not that he should contend with me with much strength, nor overwhelm me with the weight of his greatness.
23:7 Proponat æquitatem contra me, et perveniat ad victoriam judicium meum.
23:7 Let him propose equity against me, and let my judgment come to victory.
23:8 Si ad orientem iero, non apparet ; si ad occidentem, non intelligam eum.
23:8 But if I go to the east, he appeareth not; if to the west, I shall not understand him.
23:9 Si ad sinistram, quid agam ? non apprehendam eum ; si me vertam ad dexteram, non videbo illum.
23:9 If to the left hand, what shall I do? I shall not take hold on him: if I turn myself to the right hand, I shall not see him.
23:10 Ipse vero scit viam meam, et probavit me quasi aurum quod per ignem transit.
23:10 But he knoweth my way, and has tried me as gold that passeth through the fire:
23:11 Vestigia ejus secutus est pes meus : viam ejus custodivi, et non declinavi ex ea.
23:11 My foot hath followed his steps, I have kept his way, and have not declined from it.
23:12 A mandatis labiorum ejus non recessi, et in sinu meo abscondi verba oris ejus.
23:12 I have not departed from the commandments of his lips, and the words of his mouth I have hid in my bosom.
23:13 Ipse enim solus est, et nemo avertere potest cogitationem ejus : et anima ejus quodcumque voluit, hoc fecit.
23:13 For he is alone, and no man can turn away his thought: and whatsoever his soul hath desired, that hath he done.
23:14 Cum expleverit in me voluntatem suam, et alia multa similia præsto sunt ei.
23:14 And when he shall have fulfilled his will in me, many other like things are also at hand with him.
23:15 Et idcirco a facie ejus turbatus sum, et considerans eum, timore sollicitor.
23:15 And therefore I am troubled at his presence, and when I consider him, I am made pensive with fear.
23:16 Deus mollivit cor meum, et Omnipotens conturbavit me.
23:16 God hath softened my heart, and the Almighty hath troubled me.
23:17 Non enim perii propter imminentes tenebras, nec faciem meam operuit caligo.
23:17 For I have not perished because of the darkness that hangs over me, neither hath the mist covered my face.