Job 29
1 Addidit quoque Iob, assumens parabolam suam, et dixit:
Job resumed speaking and said,
2 Quis mihi tribuat, ut sim iuxta menses pristinos secundum dies, quibus Deus custodiebat me?
“Oh, that I were as I was in the past months when God cared for me,
3 Quando splendebat lucerna eius super caput meum, et ad lumen eius ambulabam in tenebris?
when his lamp shined on my head, and when I walked through darkness by his light.
4 Sicut fui in diebus adolescentiæ meæ, quando secreto Deus erat in tabernaculo meo?
Oh, that I were as I was in the ripeness of my days when the friendship of God was on my tent,
5 Quando erat Omnipotens mecum: et in circuitu meo pueri mei?
when the Almighty was yet with me, and my children were around me,
6 Quando lavabam pedes meos butyro, et petra fundebat mihi rivos olei?
when my way was covered with cream, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
7 Quando procedebam ad portam civitatis, et in platea parabant cathedram mihi?
When I went out to the city gate, when I sat in my place in the city square,
8 Videbant me iuvenes, et abscondebantur: et senes assurgentes stabant.
the young men saw me and kept their distance from me in respect, and the aged people rose and stood for me.
9 Principes cessabant loqui, et digitum superponebant ori suo.
The princes used to refrain from talking when I came; they would lay their hand on their mouths.
10 Vocem suam cohibebant duces, et lingua eorum gutturi suo adhærebat.
The voices of the noblemen were hushed, and their tongue clung to the roof of their mouths.
11 Auris audiens beatificabat me, et oculus videns testimonium reddebat mihi.
For after their ears heard me, they would then bless me; after their eyes saw me, they would then give witness to me and approve of me
12 Eo quod liberassem pauperem vociferantem, et pupillum, cui non esset adiutor.
because I rescued the one who was poor when he cried out, and the one who had no father when he had no one to help him.
13 Benedictio perituri super me veniebat, et cor viduæ consolatus sum.
The blessing of him who was about to perish came on me; I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
14 Iustitia indutus sum: et vestivi me, sicut vestimento et diademate, iudicio meo.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban.
15 Oculus fui cæco, et pes claudo.
I was eyes to blind people; I was feet to lame people.
16 Pater eram pauperum: et causam quam nesciebam, diligentissime investigabam.
I was a father to needy people; I would examine the case even of one whom I did not know.
17 Conterebam molas iniqui, et de dentibus illius auferebam prædam.
I broke the jaws of the unrighteous man; I plucked the victim out from between his teeth.
18 Dicebamque: In nidulo meo moriar, et sicut palma multiplicabo dies.
Then I said, 'I will die in my nest; I will multiply my days like the grains of sand.
19 Radix mea aperta est secus aquas, et ros morabitur in messione mea.
My roots are spread out to the waters, and dew lies all night on my branches.
20 Gloria mea semper innovabitur, et arcus meus in manu mea instaurabitur.
The honor in me is always fresh, and the bow of my strength is always new in my hand.'
21 Qui me audiebant, expectabant sententiam, et intenti tacebant ad consilium meum.
To me men listened; they waited for me; they stayed silent to hear my advice.
22 Verbis meis addere nihil audebant, et super illos stillabat eloquium meum.
After my words were done, they did not speak again; my speech dropped like water on them.
23 Expectabant me sicut pluviam, et os suum aperiebant quasi ad imbrem serotinum.
They always waited for me as they waited for rain; they opened their mouth wide to drink in my words, as they would do for the latter rain.
24 Siquando ridebam ad eos, non credebant, et lux vultus mei non cadebat in terram.
I smiled on them when they did not expect it; they did not reject the light of my face.
25 Si voluissem ire ad eos, sedebam primus: cumque sederem quasi rex, circumstante exercitu, eram tamen mœrentium consolator.
I selected their way and sat as their chief; I lived like a king in his army, like one who comforts mourners.
