Job 29
1 Job also added to this, using figures of speech, and he said:
約伯繼續他的言論說：
2 Who will grant to me that I might be as I was in former months, according to the days when God kept watch over me?
誰能賜我似以前的歲月，像以往天主護守我的時日呢﹖
3 At that time, his lamp shined over my head, and by his light, I walked through the darkness.
那時他的燈，光照在我頭上，藉他的光明，我走過黑暗。
4 I was then just as in the days of my youth, when God was privately in my tabernacle.
惟願我如壯年之時，那時天主護佑我的帳幕；
5 At that time, the Almighty was with me and my children surrounded me.
全能者與我相偕，我的子女環繞著我；
6 Then, I washed my feet with butter, and a boulder poured out rivers of oil for me.
那時我以奶油洗腳，崖石流油成河。
7 When I went to the gate of the city, or to the main street, they prepared a chair for me.
當我走出城門，在市井設我座位之時，
8 The youths saw me and hid themselves, and the elders, rising up, remained standing.
少年人看見我都迴避，老年人都起身站立；
9 The leaders stopped talking, and they placed a finder over their mouth.
王侯停止講話，用手堵住自己的口；
10 The commanders subdued their voice, and their tongue adhered to their throat.
首領不敢出聲，舌頭緊貼上顎。
11 The ear that heard me, blessed me, and the eye that saw me, gave testimony for me.
凡有耳聽見我的，必稱我有福；凡有眼看見我的，都必稱讚我。
12 This was because I had freed the poor, who cried out, and the orphan, who had no helper.
因為我援助了呼救的窮人，和無依無靠的孤兒。
13 The blessing of him who would have been destroyed came upon me, and I consoled the heart of the widow.
那受喪亡之痛的人稱謝我，我使寡婦的心歡樂。
14 I put on justice, and I clothed myself with my judgment, like a robe and a diadem.
我披上正義，正義就如我衣；我的公正，猶如我的長袍和冠冕。
15 I was an eye for the blind and a foot for the lame.
我作了盲人的眼，跛者的腳。
16 I was the father of the poor; and if I lacked knowledge about any case, I investigated very diligently.
我成了窮人之父，我調查過素不相識者的案件。
17 I crushed the jaws of the impious, and I took away prey from his teeth.
我打碎惡人的燎牙，由他牙齒中奪出了獵物。
18 And I said, “I will die in my little nest, and like a palm tree, I will multiply my days.
我心想：我必壽終正寢，我的壽數必如塵沙。
19 My root has been spread beside the waters, and the dew will remain with my harvest.
我的根蔓延到水邊，夜間甘露落在我的枝葉上。
20 My glory will always be restored, and my bow will be restored to my hand.”
我的榮耀不斷更新，我手中的弓日新月異。
21 Those who heard me, expected vindication, and they listened closely in silence to my counsel.
聽我講話的人，屏息等待，靜聽我的指教。
22 To my words, they dared to add nothing, and my eloquence poured over them.
我講話之後，無人再敢講話，我的話像水珠滴在他們身上。
23 They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for belated rains.
他們期待我如望甘霖，張著大口如渴盼春雨。
24 If I had ever laughed at them, they would not have believed it, and the light of my face was not cast down towards the ground.
我向他們微笑，他們不敢相信；我和善的面容，他們必不放過。
25 If I wished to go to them, I sat down first, and, though I sat like a king surrounded by an army, yet I was a comforter to those who mourned.
我為他們選擇了道路，身居前導，一如立在軍中的君王；我引他們到那裏，他們就去。
