Jó 29— comparação

1Jó retomou o seu discurso e disse:

2“Ah, quem me dera ser como nos meses passados,

3quando a sua lâmpada brilhava sobre a minha cabeça,

4como eu era no meu vigor,

5quando o Todo-Poderoso ainda estava comigo,

6quando os meus passos eram lavados com manteiga,

7quando eu saía para a porta da cidade,

8Os jovens me viam e se escondiam.

9Os príncipes se abstinham de falar,

10A voz dos nobres se calava,

11Pois quando o ouvido me ouvia, ele me abençoava,

12porque eu livrava o pobre que clamava,

13A bênção daquele que estava prestes a perecer vinha sobre mim,

14Eu me vestia de retidão, e ela me cobria.

15Eu era olhos para o cego,

16Eu era um pai para os necessitados.

17Eu quebrava os queixos do injusto

18Então eu dizia: 'Morrerei na minha própria casa,

19A minha raiz se estende até as águas.

20A minha glória é renovada em mim.

21“Os homens me ouviam, esperavam,

22Depois das minhas palavras, eles não falavam mais.

23Eles esperavam por mim como pela chuva.

24Eu sorria para eles quando não tinham confiança.

25Eu escolhia o caminho deles, e me assentava como chefe.

1Job again took up his parable, and said,

2“Oh that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me;

3when his lamp shone on my head, and by his light I walked through darkness,

4as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was in my tent,

5when the Almighty was yet with me, and my children were around me,

6when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out streams of oil for me,

7when I went out to the city gate, when I prepared my seat in the street.

8The young men saw me and hid themselves. The aged rose up and stood.

9The princes refrained from talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.

10The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.

11For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me, and when the eye saw me, it commended me,

12because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had no one to help him,

13the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.

14I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem.

15I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame.

16I was a father to the needy. I researched the cause of him whom I didn’t know.

17I broke the jaws of the unrighteous and plucked the prey out of his teeth.

18Then I said, ‘I will die in my own house, I will count my days as the sand.

19My root is spread out to the waters. The dew lies all night on my branch.

20My glory is fresh in me. My bow is renewed in my hand.’

21“Men listened to me, waited, and kept silence for my counsel.

22After my words they didn’t speak again. My speech fell on them.

23They waited for me as for the rain. Their mouths drank as with the spring rain.

24I smiled on them when they had no confidence. They didn’t reject the light of my face.

25I chose out their way, and sat as chief. I lived as a king in the army, as one who comforts the mourners.