Job 29
1 And Job continued his discourse:
addidit quoque Iob adsumens parabolam suam et dixit
2 “How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
quis mihi tribuat ut sim iuxta menses pristinos secundum dies quibus Deus custodiebat me
3 when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,
quando splendebat lucerna eius super caput meum et ad lumen eius ambulabam in tenebris
4 when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent,
sicut fui in diebus adulescentiae meae quando secreto Deus erat in tabernaculo meo
5 when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
quando erat Omnipotens mecum et in circuitu meo pueri mei
6 when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
quando lavabam pedes meos butyro et petra fundebat mihi rivos olei
7 When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
quando procedebam ad portam civitatis et in platea parabant cathedram mihi
8 the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.
videbant me iuvenes et abscondebantur et senes adsurgentes stabant
9 The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
principes cessabant loqui et digitum superponebant ori suo
10 The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
vocem suam cohibebant duces et lingua eorum gutturi suo adherebat
11 For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,
auris audiens beatificabat me et oculus videns testimonium reddebat mihi
12 because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
quod liberassem pauperem vociferantem et pupillum cui non esset adiutor
13 The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
benedictio perituri super me veniebat et cor viduae consolatus sum
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.
iustitia indutus sum et vestivit me sicut vestimento et diademate iudicio meo
15 I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame.
oculus fui caeco et pes claudo
16 I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.
pater eram pauperum et causam quam nesciebam diligentissime investigabam
17 I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
conterebam molas iniqui et de dentibus illius auferebam praedam
18 So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.
dicebamque in nidulo meo moriar et sicut palma multiplicabo dies
19 My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.
radix mea aperta est secus aquas et ros morabitur in messione mea
20 My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’
gloria mea semper innovabitur et arcus meus in manu mea instaurabitur
21 Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel.
qui me audiebant expectabant sententiam et intenti tacebant ad consilium meum
22 After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.
verbis meis addere nihil audebant et super illos stillabat eloquium meum
23 They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
expectabant me sicut pluviam et os suum aperiebant quasi ad imbrem serotinum
24 If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.
si quando ridebam ad eos non credebant et lux vultus mei non cadebat in terram
25 I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.
si voluissem ire ad eos sedebam primus cumque sederem quasi rex circumstante exercitu eram tamen maerentium consolator
