Ἰώβ 29
1 ἔτι δὲ προσθεὶς Ιωβ εἶπεν τῷ προοιμίῳ
Job also added to this, using figures of speech, and he said:
2 τίς ἄν με θείη κατὰ μῆνα ἔμπροσθεν ἡμερῶν ὧν με ὁ θεὸς ἐφύλαξεν
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?
3 ὡς ὅτε ηὔγει ὁ λύχνος αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς μου ὅτε τῷ φωτὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπορευόμην ἐν σκότει
At that time, his lamp shined over my head, and by his light, I walked through the darkness.
4 ὅτε ἤμην ἐπιβρίθων ὁδοῖς ὅτε ὁ θεὸς ἐπισκοπὴν ἐποιεῖτο τοῦ οἴκου μου
I was then just as in the days of my youth, when God was privately in my tabernacle.
5 ὅτε ἤμην ὑλώδης λίαν κύκλῳ δέ μου οἱ παῖδες
At that time, the Almighty was with me and my children surrounded me.
6 ὅτε ἐχέοντό μου αἱ ὁδοὶ βουτύρῳ τὰ δὲ ὄρη μου ἐχέοντο γάλακτι
Then, I washed my feet with butter, and a boulder poured out rivers of oil for me.
7 ὅτε ἐξεπορευόμην ὄρθριος ἐν πόλει ἐν δὲ πλατείαις ἐτίθετό μου ὁ δίφρος
When I went to the gate of the city, or to the main street, they prepared a chair for me.
8 ἰδόντες με νεανίσκοι ἐκρύβησαν πρεσβῦται δὲ πάντες ἔστησαν
The youths saw me and hid themselves, and the elders, rising up, remained standing.
9 ἁδροὶ δὲ ἐπαύσαντο λαλοῦντες δάκτυλον ἐπιθέντες ἐπὶ στόματι
The leaders stopped talking, and they placed a finder over their mouth.
10 οἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες ἐμακάρισάν με καὶ γλῶσσα αὐτῶν τῷ λάρυγγι αὐτῶν ἐκολλήθη
The commanders subdued their voice, and their tongue adhered to their throat.
11 ὅτι οὖς ἤκουσεν καὶ ἐμακάρισέν με ὀφθαλμὸς δὲ ἰδών με ἐξέκλινεν
The ear that heard me, blessed me, and the eye that saw me, gave testimony for me.
12 διέσωσα γὰρ πτωχὸν ἐκ χειρὸς δυνάστου καὶ ὀρφανῷ ᾧ οὐκ ἦν βοηθός ἐβοήθησα
This was because I had freed the poor, who cried out, and the orphan, who had no helper.
13 εὐλογία ἀπολλυμένου ἐπ’ ἐμὲ ἔλθοι στόμα δὲ χήρας με εὐλόγησεν
The blessing of him who would have been destroyed came upon me, and I consoled the heart of the widow.
14 δικαιοσύνην δὲ ἐνεδεδύκειν ἠμφιασάμην δὲ κρίμα ἴσα διπλοΐδι
I put on justice, and I clothed myself with my judgment, like a robe and a diadem.
15 ὀφθαλμὸς ἤμην τυφλῶν ποὺς δὲ χωλῶν
I was an eye for the blind and a foot for the lame.
16 ἐγὼ ἤμην πατὴρ ἀδυνάτων δίκην δέ ἣν οὐκ ᾔδειν ἐξιχνίασα
I was the father of the poor; and if I lacked knowledge about any case, I investigated very diligently.
17 συνέτριψα δὲ μύλας ἀδίκων ἐκ δὲ μέσου τῶν ὀδόντων αὐτῶν ἅρπαγμα ἐξέσπασα
I crushed the jaws of the impious, and I took away prey from his teeth.
18 εἶπα δέ ἡ ἡλικία μου γηράσει ὥσπερ στέλεχος φοίνικος πολὺν χρόνον βιώσω
And I said, “I will die in my little nest, and like a palm tree, I will multiply my days.
19 ἡ ῥίζα μου διήνοικται ἐπὶ ὕδατος καὶ δρόσος αὐλισθήσεται ἐν τῷ θερισμῷ μου
My root has been spread beside the waters, and the dew will remain with my harvest.
20 ἡ δόξα μου καινὴ μετ’ ἐμοῦ καὶ τὸ τόξον μου ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ πορεύσεται
My glory will always be restored, and my bow will be restored to my hand.”
21 ἐμοῦ ἀκούσαντες προσέσχον ἐσιώπησαν δὲ ἐπὶ τῇ ἐμῇ βουλῇ
Those who heard me, expected vindication, and they listened closely in silence to my counsel.
22 ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ ἐμῷ ῥήματι οὐ προσέθεντο περιχαρεῖς δὲ ἐγίνοντο ὁπόταν αὐτοῖς ἐλάλουν
To my words, they dared to add nothing, and my eloquence poured over them.
23 ὥσπερ γῆ διψῶσα προσδεχομένη τὸν ὑετόν οὕτως οὗτοι τὴν ἐμὴν λαλιάν
They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for belated rains.
24 ἐὰν γελάσω πρὸς αὐτούς οὐ μὴ πιστεύσωσιν καὶ φῶς τοῦ προσώπου μου οὐκ ἀπέπιπτεν
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.
25 ἐξελεξάμην ὁδὸν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐκάθισα ἄρχων καὶ κατεσκήνουν ὡσεὶ βασιλεὺς ἐν μονοζώνοις ὃν τρόπον παθεινοὺς παρακαλῶν
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.
