Job 29
1 Addidit quoque Iob, assumens parabolam suam, et dixit:
And Job continued his discourse:
2 Quis mihi tribuat, ut sim iuxta menses pristinos secundum dies, quibus Deus custodiebat me?
“How I long for the months gone by, for 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 above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,
4 Sicut fui in diebus adolescentiae meae, quando secreto Deus erat in tabernaculo meo?
when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent,
5 Quando erat Omnipotens mecum: et in circuitu meo pueri mei?
when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
6 Quando lavabam pedes meos butyro, et petra fundebat mihi rivos olei?
when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
7 Quando procedebam ad portam civitatis, et in platea parabant cathedram mihi?
When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
8 Videbant me iuvenes, et abscondebantur: et senes assurgentes stabant.
the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.
9 Principes cessabant loqui, et digitum superponebant ori suo.
The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
10 Vocem suam cohibebant duces, et lingua eorum gutturi suo adhaerebat.
The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
11 Auris audiens beatificabat me, et oculus videns testimonium reddebat mihi.
For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,
12 Eo quod liberassem pauperem vociferantem, et pupillum, cui non esset adiutor.
because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
13 Benedictio perituri super me veniebat, et cor viduae consolatus sum.
The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
14 Iustitia indutus sum: et vestivi me, sicut vestimento et diademate, iudicio meo.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.
15 Oculus fui caeco, et pes claudo.
I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame.
16 Pater eram pauperum: et causam quam nesciebam, diligentissime investigabam.
I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.
17 Conterebam molas iniqui, et de dentibus illius auferebam praedam.
I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
18 Dicebamque: In nidulo meo moriar, et sicut palma multiplicabo dies.
So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.
19 Radix mea aperta est secus aquas, et ros morabitur in messione mea.
My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.
20 Gloria mea semper innovabitur, et arcus meus in manu mea instaurabitur.
My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’
21 Qui me audiebant, expectabant sententiam, et intenti tacebant ad consilium meum.
Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel.
22 Verbis meis addere nihil audebant, et super illos stillabat eloquium meum.
After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.
23 Expectabant me sicut pluviam, et os suum aperiebant quasi ad imbrem serotinum.
They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
24 Siquando ridebam ad eos, non credebant, et lux vultus mei non cadebat in terram.
If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.
25 Si voluissem ire ad eos, sedebam primus: cumque sederem quasi rex, circumstante exercitu, eram tamen moerentium consolator.
I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.
