Job 29
1 Addidit quoque Iob, assumens parabolam suam, et dixit:
And Job addeth to lift up his simile, and saith: —
2 Quis mihi tribuat, ut sim iuxta menses pristinos secundum dies, quibus Deus custodiebat me?
Who doth make 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 upon my tent.
5 Quando erat Omnipotens mecum: et in circuitu meo pueri mei?
When yet the Mighty One [is] with me. Round about 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 rivulets 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.
Seen me have youths, and they, 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 a hand they place on their mouth.
10 Vocem suam cohibebant duces, et lingua eorum gutturi suo adhaerebat.
The voice of leaders hath been hidden, And their tongue to the palate hath cleaved.
11 Auris audiens beatificabat me, et oculus videns testimonium reddebat mihi.
For the ear heard, and declareth me happy, And the eye hath seen, and testifieth [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 hath no helper.
13 Benedictio perituri super me veniebat, et cor viduae consolatus sum.
The blessing of the perishing cometh on me, And the heart of the widow I cause to sing.
14 Iustitia indutus sum: et vestivi me, sicut vestimento et diademate, iudicio meo.
Righteousness I have put on, and it clotheth me, As a robe and a diadem my justice.
15 Oculus fui caeco, et pes claudo.
Eyes I have been to the blind, And feet to the lame [am] I.
16 Pater eram pauperum: et causam quam nesciebam, diligentissime investigabam.
A father I [am] 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, 'With my nest I expire, And as the sand I multiply days.'
19 Radix mea aperta est secus aquas, et ros morabitur in messione mea.
My root is open unto the waters, And dew doth lodge on my branch.
20 Gloria mea semper innovabitur, et arcus meus in manu mea instaurabitur.
My honour [is] fresh with me, And my bow in my hand is renewed.
21 Qui me audiebant, expectabant sententiam, et intenti tacebant ad consilium meum.
To me they have hearkened, Yea, they wait, and are silent for my counsel.
22 Verbis meis addere nihil audebant, et super illos stillabat eloquium meum.
After my word they change not, And on them doth my speech drop,
23 Expectabant me sicut pluviam, et os suum aperiebant quasi ad imbrem serotinum.
And they wait as [for] rain for me, And their mouth they have opened wide [As] for the latter rain.
24 Siquando ridebam ad eos, non credebant, et lux vultus mei non cadebat in terram.
I laugh unto them — they give no credence, And the light of my face cause not 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 head, And I dwell as a king in a troop, When mourners he doth comfort.
