Job 29
1 Addidit quoque Iob, assumens parabolam suam, et dixit:
Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
2 Quis mihi tribuat, ut sim iuxta menses pristinos secundum dies, quibus Deus custodiebat me?
Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;
3 Quando splendebat lucerna eius super caput meum, et ad lumen eius ambulabam in tenebris?
When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;
4 Sicut fui in diebus adolescentiæ meæ, quando secreto Deus erat in tabernaculo meo?
As I was in the days of my youth, when the friendship and counsel of God was upon my tabernacle;
5 Quando erat Omnipotens mecum: et in circuitu meo pueri mei?
When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;
6 Quando lavabam pedes meos butyro, et petra fundebat mihi rivos olei?
When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;
7 Quando procedebam ad portam civitatis, et in platea parabant cathedram mihi?
When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
8 Videbant me iuvenes, et abscondebantur: et senes assurgentes stabant.
The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.
9 Principes cessabant loqui, et digitum superponebant ori suo.
The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
10 Vocem suam cohibebant duces, et lingua eorum gutturi suo adhærebat.
The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
11 Auris audiens beatificabat me, et oculus videns testimonium reddebat mihi.
When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:
12 Eo quod liberassem pauperem vociferantem, et pupillum, cui non esset adiutor.
Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
13 Benedictio perituri super me veniebat, et cor viduæ consolatus sum.
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
14 Iustitia indutus sum: et vestivi me, sicut vestimento et diademate, iudicio meo.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
15 Oculus fui cæco, et pes claudo.
I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
16 Pater eram pauperum: et causam quam nesciebam, diligentissime investigabam.
I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
17 Conterebam molas iniqui, et de dentibus illius auferebam prædam.
And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
18 Dicebamque: In nidulo meo moriar, et sicut palma multiplicabo dies.
Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.
19 Radix mea aperta est secus aquas, et ros morabitur in messione mea.
My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.
20 Gloria mea semper innovabitur, et arcus meus in manu mea instaurabitur.
My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.
21 Qui me audiebant, expectabant sententiam, et intenti tacebant ad consilium meum.
Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.
22 Verbis meis addere nihil audebant, et super illos stillabat eloquium meum.
After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.
23 Expectabant me sicut pluviam, et os suum aperiebant quasi ad imbrem serotinum.
And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
24 Siquando ridebam ad eos, non credebant, et lux vultus mei non cadebat in terram.
If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.
25 Si voluissem ire ad eos, sedebam primus: cumque sederem quasi rex, circumstante exercitu, eram tamen mœrentium consolator.
I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king among his troops, as one that comforteth the mourners.
