Job 29
1 addidit quoque Iob adsumens 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 adulescentiae 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 adsurgentes 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 adherebat
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 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 vestivit 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 si quando 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 maerentium consolator
I choose their way, and sit [as] head, And I dwell as a king in a troop, When he comforts mourners.”
