Job 29
1 Addidit quoque Iob, assumens parabolam suam, et dixit:
And Job adds to lift up his allegory and says:
2 Quis mihi tribuat, ut sim iuxta menses pristinos secundum dies, quibus Deus custodiebat me?
“Who makes me as [in] months past, As [in] the days of God’s preserving me?
3 Quando splendebat lucerna eius super caput meum, et ad lumen eius ambulabam in tenebris?
In His causing His lamp to shine on my head, By His light I walk [through] darkness.
4 Sicut fui in diebus adolescentiae meae, quando secreto Deus erat in tabernaculo meo?
As I have been in days of my maturity, And the counsel of God on my tent.
5 Quando erat Omnipotens mecum: et in circuitu meo pueri mei?
When yet the Mighty One [is] with me. Around me—my young ones,
6 Quando lavabam pedes meos butyro, et petra fundebat mihi rivos olei?
When washing my goings with butter, And the firm rock [is] with me—streams of oil.
7 Quando procedebam ad portam civitatis, et in platea parabant cathedram mihi?
When I go out to the gate by the city, In a broad place I prepare my seat.
8 Videbant me iuvenes, et abscondebantur: et senes assurgentes stabant.
Youths have seen me, and they have been hidden, And the aged have risen—they stood up.
9 Principes cessabant loqui, et digitum superponebant ori suo.
Princes have kept in words, And they place a hand on their mouth.
10 Vocem suam cohibebant duces, et lingua eorum gutturi suo adhaerebat.
The voice of leaders has been hidden, And their tongue has cleaved to the palate.
11 Auris audiens beatificabat me, et oculus videns testimonium reddebat mihi.
For the ear heard, and declares me blessed, And the eye has seen, and testifies [to] me.
12 Eo quod liberassem pauperem vociferantem, et pupillum, cui non esset adiutor.
For I deliver the afflicted who is crying, And the fatherless who has no helper.
13 Benedictio perituri super me veniebat, et cor viduae consolatus sum.
The blessing of the perishing comes on me, And I cause the heart of the widow to sing.
14 Iustitia indutus sum: et vestivi me, sicut vestimento et diademate, iudicio meo.
I have put on righteousness, and it clothes me, My justice as a robe and a crown.
15 Oculus fui caeco, et pes claudo.
I have been eyes to the blind, And I [am] feet to the lame.
16 Pater eram pauperum: et causam quam nesciebam, diligentissime investigabam.
I [am] a father to the needy, And the cause I have not known I search out.
17 Conterebam molas iniqui, et de dentibus illius auferebam praedam.
And I break the jaw-teeth of the perverse, And from his teeth I cast away prey.
18 Dicebamque: In nidulo meo moriar, et sicut palma multiplicabo dies.
And I say, I expire with my nest, And I multiply days as the sand.
19 Radix mea aperta est secus aquas, et ros morabitur in messione mea.
My root is open to the waters, And dew lodges on my branch.
20 Gloria mea semper innovabitur, et arcus meus in manu mea instaurabitur.
My glory [is] fresh with me, And my bow is renewed in my hand.
21 Qui me audiebant, expectabant sententiam, et intenti tacebant ad consilium meum.
They have listened to me, Indeed, they wait, and are silent for my counsel.
22 Verbis meis addere nihil audebant, et super illos stillabat eloquium meum.
After my word they do not change, And my speech drops on them,
23 Expectabant me sicut pluviam, et os suum aperiebant quasi ad imbrem serotinum.
And they wait for me as [for] rain, And they have opened wide their mouth [As] for the spring rain.
24 Siquando ridebam ad eos, non credebant, et lux vultus mei non cadebat in terram.
I laugh at them—they give no credence, And do not cause the light of my face to fall.
25 Si voluissem ire ad eos, sedebam primus: cumque sederem quasi rex, circumstante exercitu, eram tamen moerentium consolator.
I choose their way, and sit [as] head, And I dwell as a king in a troop, When he comforts mourners.”
