The Book of Job — Liber Job
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Chapter 29
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| Vulgate> | <Knox Bible> | <Douay-Rheims |
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1 Addidit quoque Job, assumens parabolam suam, et dixit: | 1 And thus Job continued to lay bare his thought: | 1 Job also added, taking up his parable, and said: |
2 Quis mihi tribuat ut sim juxta menses pristinos, secundum dies quibus Deus custodiebat me? | 2 Alas for the changes the months have brought with them! Alas for the old days, when God was my protector, | 2 Who will grant me, that I might be according to the months past, according to the days in which God kept me? |
3 Quando splendebat lucerna ejus super caput meum, et ad lumen ejus ambulabam in tenebris: | 3 when his light shone above me, its rays guiding me through the darkness! | 3 When his lamp shined over my head, and I walked by his light in darkness? |
4 sicut fui in diebus adolescentiæ meæ, quando secreto Deus erat in tabernaculo meo: | 4 Days of ripe manhood, when God was my home’s familiar guest, | 4 As I was in the days of my youth, when God was secretly in my tabernacle? |
5 quando erat Omnipotens mecum, et in circuitu meo pueri mei: | 5 he, the Almighty, at my side! I had my children still about me; | 5 When the Almighty was with me: and my servants round about me? |
6 quando lavabam pedes meos butyro, et petra fundebat mihi rivos olei: | 6 the milk frothed in pools at my feet, no rock so hard but my olives bathed it in oil. | 6 When I washed my feet with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil? |
7 quando procedebam ad portam civitatis, et in platea parabant cathedram mihi. | 7 Went I to the city gate, there was my seat ready for me in the open square; | 7 When I went out to the gate of the city, and in the street they prepared me a chair? |
8 Videbant me juvenes, et abscondebantur: et senes assurgentes stabant. | 8 rose the young men to make place for me, rose the aged to do me honour; | 8 The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the old men rose up and stood. |
9 Principes cessabant loqui, et digitum superponebant ori suo. | 9 nobles fell silent, and waited, finger on lip, | 9 The princes ceased to speak, and laid the finger on their mouth. |
10 Vocem suam cohibebant duces, et lingua eorum gutturi suo adhærebat. | 10 words failed the chieftains, and counsel they gave no more. | 10 The rulers held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to their throat. |
11 Auris audiens beatificabat me, et oculus videns testimonium reddebat mihi: | 11 None heard the fame of me then, but called me a happy man; none watched my doings then, but spoke in my praise. | 11 The ear that heard me blessed me, and the eye that saw me gave witness to me: |
12 eo quod liberassem pauperem vociferantem, et pupillum cui non esset adjutor. | 12 Poor man nor helpless orphan cried to me in vain; | 12 Because I had delivered the poor man that cried out; and the fatherless, that had no helper. |
13 Benedictio perituri super me veniebat, et cor viduæ consolatus sum. | 13 how they blessed me, souls reprieved from instant peril; with what comfort the widow’s heart rejoiced! | 13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I comforted the heart of the widow. |
14 Justitia indutus sum, et vestivi me, sicut vestimento et diademate, judicio meo. | 14 Dutiful observance was still the vesture I wore, my robe and crown integrity; | 14 I was clad with justice: and I clothed myself with my judgment, as with a robe and a diadem. |
15 Oculus fui cæco, et pes claudo. | 15 in me, the blind found sight, the lame strength, | 15 I was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame. |
16 Pater eram pauperum, et causam quam nesciebam diligentissime investigabam. | 16 the poor a father. None so ready to give the stranger’s cause a hearing, | 16 I was the father of the poor: and the cause which I knew not, I searched out most diligently. |
17 Conterebam molas iniqui, et de dentibus illius auferebam prædam. | 17 break open the fangs of the wrong-doer and snatch the prey from his teeth. | 17 I broke the jaws of the wicked man, and out of his teeth I took away the prey. |
18 Dicebamque: In nidulo meo moriar, et sicut palma multiplicabo dies. | 18 Here, thought I, I have built myself a nest to die in; here, like some palm-tree, I shall defy the years, | 18 And I said: I shall die in my nest, and as a palm tree shall multiply my days. |
19 Radix mea aperta est secus aquas, et ros morabitur in messione mea. | 19 palm-tree that spreads out its roots to the river-bank, on whose leaves lodges the dew; | 19 My root is opened beside the waters, and dew shall continue in my harvest. |
20 Gloria mea semper innovabitur, et arcus meus in manu mea instaurabitur. | 20 my fame never diminishing, never worn out the bow I bear. | 20 My glory shall always be renewed, and my bow in my hand shall be repaired. |
21 Qui me audiebant, expectabant sententiam, et intenti tacebant ad consilium meum. | 21 How eagerly men hung upon my words, intent to learn what counsel I would give, | 21 They that heard me, waited for my sentence, and being attentive held their peace at my counsel. |
22 Verbis meis addere nihil audebant, et super illos stillabat eloquium meum. | 22 nor ventured to speak when I had done! A gracious influence my words fell, | 22 To my words they durst add nothing, and my speech dropped upon them. |
23 Expectabant me sicut pluviam, et os suum aperiebant quasi ad imbrem serotinum. | 23 like autumn rain or the spring showers on lips athirst. | 23 They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for a latter shower. |
24 Siquando ridebam ad eos, non credebant: et lux vultus mei non cadebat in terram. | 24 Were they faint-hearted, they found me smiling still, and the encouragement of my glance never failed them. | 24 If at any time I laughed on them, they believed not, and the light of my countenance fell not on earth. |
25 Si voluissem ire ad eos, sedebam primus: cumque sederem quasi rex, circumstante exercitu, eram tamen mœrentium consolator. | 25 Deigned I to be their leader, the first place was mine; yet ever when I sat like a king with his retinue about him, I would comfort the mourner’s tears. | 25 If I had a mind to go to them, I sat first, and when I sat as a king, with his army standing about him, yet I was a comforter of them that mourned. |
