Job 29
1 Addidit quoque Iob, assumens parabolam suam, et dixit:
And Job continued to take up his parable, and said,
2 Quis mihi tribuat, ut sim iuxta menses pristinos secundum dies, quibus Deus custodiebat me?
Who will give me back months like those which are past, days like those when God guarded me;
3 Quando splendebat lucerna eius super caput meum, et ad lumen eius ambulabam in tenebris?
When his lamp shone over my head, when by his light I could walk in darkness;
4 Sicut fui in diebus adolescentiae meae, quando secreto Deus erat in tabernaculo meo?
As I was in the days of my abundance, when the confidence of God was upon my tent:
5 Quando erat Omnipotens mecum: et in circuitu meo pueri mei?
When the Almighty was yet with me, when my servants stood round about me;
6 Quando lavabam pedes meos butyro, et petra fundebat mihi rivos olei?
When I bathed my steps in cream, and the rock poured out near me streamlets of oil!
7 Quando procedebam ad portam civitatis, et in platea parabant cathedram mihi?
When I went out to the gate close by the city, when in the open place I established my seat:
8 Videbant me iuvenes, et abscondebantur: et senes assurgentes stabant.
Young men saw me, and hid themselves; and the aged rose up, and remained standing;
9 Principes cessabant loqui, et digitum superponebant ori suo.
Princes stopped in the midst of [their] words, and laid their hand on their mouth:
10 Vocem suam cohibebant duces, et lingua eorum gutturi suo adhaerebat.
The voice of nobles was arrested, and their tongue cleaved to their palate.
11 Auris audiens beatificabat me, et oculus videns testimonium reddebat mihi.
For the ear that heard me called me happy; and the eye that saw me bore witness for me;
12 Eo quod liberassem pauperem vociferantem, et pupillum, cui non esset adiutor.
Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, yea, that had none to help him.
13 Benedictio perituri super me veniebat, et cor viduae consolatus sum.
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me; and the heart of the widow I caused to sing for joy.
14 Iustitia indutus sum: et vestivi me, sicut vestimento et diademate, iudicio meo.
I took righteousness as my garment, and it clothed me: as a robe and a mitre was justice unto me.
15 Oculus fui caeco, et pes claudo.
Eyes was I to the blind; and feet to the lame was I.
16 Pater eram pauperum: et causam quam nesciebam, diligentissime investigabam.
A father was I to the needy; and the cause of him I knew not I used to investigate.
17 Conterebam molas iniqui, et de dentibus illius auferebam praedam.
And I broke the cutting-teeth of the wrong-doer, and out of his teeth I cast down his prey.
18 Dicebamque: In nidulo meo moriar, et sicut palma multiplicabo dies.
And I said then, “In the midst of my nest shall I depart hence, and like the sand shall I have many days.
19 Radix mea aperta est secus aquas, et ros morabitur in messione mea.
My root will stand open for the water, and the dew will lodge on my boughs.
20 Gloria mea semper innovabitur, et arcus meus in manu mea instaurabitur.
My glory will ever be new with me, and my bow will acquire fresh strength in my hand.”
21 Qui me audiebant, expectabant sententiam, et intenti tacebant ad consilium meum.
Unto me men listened, and waited, and watched in silence for my counsel
22 Verbis meis addere nihil audebant, et super illos stillabat eloquium meum.
After my words they made no reply, and my speech dropped on them [like dew].
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 wide their mouth as for the latter rain.
24 Siquando ridebam ad eos, non credebant, et lux vultus mei non cadebat in terram.
I smiled on those that had lost their confidence; and the light of my countenance they never cast down.
25 Si voluissem ire ad eos, sedebam primus: cumque sederem quasi rex, circumstante exercitu, eram tamen moerentium consolator.
I chose their way for them, and I sat as chief, and dwelt as king in his army, as one that comforteth mourners.
