איוב 29
| ויסף איוב שאת משלו ויאמר׃ | 1 |
Job also added to this, using figures of speech, and he said:
| מי יתנני כירחי קדם כימי אלוה ישמרני׃ | 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?
| בהלו נרו עלי ראשי לאורו אלך חשך׃ | 3 |
At that time, his lamp shined over my head, and by his light, I walked through the darkness.
| כאשר הייתי בימי חרפי בסוד אלוה עלי אהלי׃ | 4 |
I was then just as in the days of my youth, when God was privately in my tabernacle.
| בעוד שדי עמדי סביבותי נערי׃ | 5 |
At that time, the Almighty was with me and my children surrounded me.
| ברחץ הליכי בחמה וצור יצוק עמדי פלגי שמן׃ | 6 |
Then, I washed my feet with butter, and a boulder poured out rivers of oil for me.
| בצאתי שער עלי קרת ברחוב אכין מושבי׃ | 7 |
When I went to the gate of the city, or to the main street, they prepared a chair for me.
| ראוני נערים ונחבאו וישישים קמו עמדו׃ | 8 |
The youths saw me and hid themselves, and the elders, rising up, remained standing.
| שרים עצרו במלים וכף ישימו לפיהם׃ | 9 |
The leaders stopped talking, and they placed a finder over their mouth.
| קול נגידים נחבאו ולשונם לחכם דבקה׃ | 10 |
The commanders subdued their voice, and their tongue adhered to their throat.
| כי אזן שמעה ותאשרני ועין ראתה ותעידני׃ | 11 |
The ear that heard me, blessed me, and the eye that saw me, gave testimony for me.
| כי אמלט עני משוע ויתום ולא עזר לו׃ | 12 |
This was because I had freed the poor, who cried out, and the orphan, who had no helper.
| ברכת אבד עלי תבא ולב אלמנה ארנן׃ | 13 |
The blessing of him who would have been destroyed came upon me, and I consoled the heart of the widow.
| צדק לבשתי וילבשני כמעיל וצניף משפטי׃ | 14 |
I put on justice, and I clothed myself with my judgment, like a robe and a diadem.
| עינים הייתי לעור ורגלים לפסח אני׃ | 15 |
I was an eye for the blind and a foot for the lame.
| אב אנכי לאביונים ורב לא ידעתי אחקרהו׃ | 16 |
I was the father of the poor; and if I lacked knowledge about any case, I investigated very diligently.
| ואשברה מתלעות עול ומשניו אשליך טרף׃ | 17 |
I crushed the jaws of the impious, and I took away prey from his teeth.
| ואמר עם קני אגוע וכחול ארבה ימים׃ | 18 |
And I said, “I will die in my little nest, and like a palm tree, I will multiply my days.
| שרשי פתוח אלי מים וטל ילין בקצירי׃ | 19 |
My root has been spread beside the waters, and the dew will remain with my harvest.
| כבודי חדש עמדי וקשתי בידי תחליף׃ | 20 |
My glory will always be restored, and my bow will be restored to my hand.”
| לי שמעו ויחלו וידמו למו עצתי׃ | 21 |
Those who heard me, expected vindication, and they listened closely in silence to my counsel.
| אחרי דברי לא ישנו ועלימו תטף מלתי׃ | 22 |
To my words, they dared to add nothing, and my eloquence poured over them.
| ויחלו כמטר לי ופיהם פערו למלקוש׃ | 23 |
They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for belated rains.
| אשחק אלהם לא יאמינו ואור פני לא יפילון׃ | 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.
| אבחר דרכם ואשב ראש ואשכון כמלך בגדוד כאשר אבלים ינחם׃ | 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.
