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