Job 29
1 Job again took up his parable, and said,
Addidit quoque Iob, assumens parabolam suam, et dixit:
2 “Oh that I were as in the months of old, as in 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 on my head, and by his light I walked through darkness,
Quando splendebat lucerna eius super caput meum, et ad lumen eius ambulabam in tenebris?
4 as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was in my tent,
Sicut fui in diebus adolescentiæ meæ, quando secreto Deus erat in tabernaculo meo?
5 when the Almighty was yet with me, and my children were around me,
Quando erat Omnipotens mecum: et in circuitu meo pueri mei?
6 when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out streams of oil for me,
Quando lavabam pedes meos butyro, et petra fundebat mihi rivos olei?
7 when I went out to the city gate, when I prepared my seat in the street.
Quando procedebam ad portam civitatis, et in platea parabant cathedram mihi?
8 The young men saw me and hid themselves. The aged rose up and stood.
Videbant me iuvenes, et abscondebantur: et senes assurgentes stabant.
9 The princes refrained from talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
Principes cessabant loqui, et digitum superponebant ori suo.
10 The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
Vocem suam cohibebant duces, et lingua eorum gutturi suo adhærebat.
11 For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me, and when the eye saw me, it commended me,
Auris audiens beatificabat me, et oculus videns testimonium reddebat mihi.
12 because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had no one to help him,
Eo quod liberassem pauperem vociferantem, et pupillum, cui non esset adiutor.
13 the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
Benedictio perituri super me veniebat, et cor viduæ consolatus sum.
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem.
Iustitia indutus sum: et vestivi me, sicut vestimento et diademate, iudicio meo.
15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame.
Oculus fui cæco, et pes claudo.
16 I was a father to the needy. I researched the cause of him whom I didn’t know.
Pater eram pauperum: et causam quam nesciebam, diligentissime investigabam.
17 I broke the jaws of the unrighteous and plucked the prey out of his teeth.
Conterebam molas iniqui, et de dentibus illius auferebam prædam.
18 Then I said, ‘I will die in my own house, I will count my days as the sand.
Dicebamque: In nidulo meo moriar, et sicut palma multiplicabo dies.
19 My root is spread out to the waters. The dew lies all night on my branch.
Radix mea aperta est secus aquas, et ros morabitur in messione mea.
20 My glory is fresh in me. My bow is renewed in my hand.’
Gloria mea semper innovabitur, et arcus meus in manu mea instaurabitur.
21 “Men listened to me, waited, and kept silence for my counsel.
Qui me audiebant, expectabant sententiam, et intenti tacebant ad consilium meum.
22 After my words they didn’t speak again. My speech fell on them.
Verbis meis addere nihil audebant, et super illos stillabat eloquium meum.
23 They waited for me as for the rain. Their mouths drank as with the spring rain.
Expectabant me sicut pluviam, et os suum aperiebant quasi ad imbrem serotinum.
24 I smiled on them when they had no confidence. They didn’t reject the light of my face.
Siquando ridebam ad eos, non credebant, et lux vultus mei non cadebat in terram.
25 I chose out their way, and sat as chief. I lived as a king in the army, as one who comforts the mourners.
Si voluissem ire ad eos, sedebam primus: cumque sederem quasi rex, circumstante exercitu, eram tamen mœrentium consolator.
