And thus Job continued to lay bare his thought:

Addidit quoque Job, assumens parabolam suam, et dixit:

Job also added, taking up his parable, and said:

Alas for the changes the months have brought with them! Alas for the old days, when God was my protector,

Quis mihi tribuat ut sim juxta menses pristinos, secundum dies quibus Deus custodiebat me?

Who will grant me, that I might be according to the months past, according to the days in which God kept me?

when his light shone above me, its rays guiding me through the darkness!

Quando splendebat lucerna ejus super caput meum, et ad lumen ejus ambulabam in tenebris:

When his lamp shined over my head, and I walked by his light in darkness?

Days of ripe manhood, when God was my home’s familiar guest,

sicut fui in diebus adolescentiæ meæ, quando secreto Deus erat in tabernaculo meo:

As I was in the days of my youth, when God was secretly in my tabernacle?

he, the Almighty, at my side! I had my children still about me;

quando erat Omnipotens mecum, et in circuitu meo pueri mei:

When the Almighty was with me: and my servants round about me?

the milk frothed in pools at my feet, no rock so hard but my olives bathed it in oil.

quando lavabam pedes meos butyro, et petra fundebat mihi rivos olei:

When I washed my feet with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil?

Went I to the city gate, there was my seat ready for me in the open square;

quando procedebam ad portam civitatis, et in platea parabant cathedram mihi.

When I went out to the gate of the city, and in the street they prepared me a chair?

rose the young men to make place for me, rose the aged to do me honour;

Videbant me juvenes, et abscondebantur: et senes assurgentes stabant.

The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the old men rose up and stood.

nobles fell silent, and waited, finger on lip,

Principes cessabant loqui, et digitum superponebant ori suo.

The princes ceased to speak, and laid the finger on their mouth.

words failed the chieftains, and counsel they gave no more.

Vocem suam cohibebant duces, et lingua eorum gutturi suo adhærebat.

The rulers held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to their throat.

None heard the fame of me then, but called me a happy man; none watched my doings then, but spoke in my praise.

Auris audiens beatificabat me, et oculus videns testimonium reddebat mihi:

The ear that heard me blessed me, and the eye that saw me gave witness to me:

Poor man nor helpless orphan cried to me in vain;

eo quod liberassem pauperem vociferantem, et pupillum cui non esset adjutor.

Because I had delivered the poor man that cried out; and the fatherless, that had no helper.

how they blessed me, souls reprieved from instant peril; with what comfort the widow’s heart rejoiced!

Benedictio perituri super me veniebat, et cor viduæ consolatus sum.

The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I comforted the heart of the widow.

Dutiful observance was still the vesture I wore, my robe and crown integrity;

Justitia indutus sum, et vestivi me, sicut vestimento et diademate, judicio meo.

I was clad with justice: and I clothed myself with my judgment, as with a robe and a diadem.

in me, the blind found sight, the lame strength,

Oculus fui cæco, et pes claudo.

I was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame.

the poor a father. None so ready to give the stranger’s cause a hearing,

Pater eram pauperum, et causam quam nesciebam diligentissime investigabam.

I was the father of the poor: and the cause which I knew not, I searched out most diligently.

break open the fangs of the wrong-doer and snatch the prey from his teeth.

Conterebam molas iniqui, et de dentibus illius auferebam prædam.

I broke the jaws of the wicked man, and out of his teeth I took away the prey.

Here, thought I, I have built myself a nest to die in; here, like some palm-tree, I shall defy the years,

Dicebamque: In nidulo meo moriar, et sicut palma multiplicabo dies.

And I said: I shall die in my nest, and as a palm tree shall multiply my days.

palm-tree that spreads out its roots to the river-bank, on whose leaves lodges the dew;

Radix mea aperta est secus aquas, et ros morabitur in messione mea.

My root is opened beside the waters, and dew shall continue in my harvest.

my fame never diminishing, never worn out the bow I bear.

Gloria mea semper innovabitur, et arcus meus in manu mea instaurabitur.

My glory shall always be renewed, and my bow in my hand shall be repaired.

How eagerly men hung upon my words, intent to learn what counsel I would give,

Qui me audiebant, expectabant sententiam, et intenti tacebant ad consilium meum.

They that heard me, waited for my sentence, and being attentive held their peace at my counsel.

nor ventured to speak when I had done! A gracious influence my words fell,

Verbis meis addere nihil audebant, et super illos stillabat eloquium meum.

To my words they durst add nothing, and my speech dropped upon them.

like autumn rain or the spring showers on lips athirst.

Expectabant me sicut pluviam, et os suum aperiebant quasi ad imbrem serotinum.

They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for a latter shower.

Were they faint-hearted, they found me smiling still, and the encouragement of my glance never failed them.

Siquando ridebam ad eos, non credebant: et lux vultus mei non cadebat in terram.

If at any time I laughed on them, they believed not, and the light of my countenance fell not on earth.

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.

Si voluissem ire ad eos, sedebam primus: cumque sederem quasi rex, circumstante exercitu, eram tamen mœrentium consolator.

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.