And Job again took up his parable, and said,
Oh that I were as in the months of old,
As in the days when God watched over me;
When his lamp shined {Or, above}upon my head,
And by his light I walked through darkness;
As I was in {Hebrew: my days of autumn.}the ripeness of my days,
When the {Or, counsel}friendship of God was upon my tent;
When the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were about me;
When my steps were washed with butter,
And the rock poured me out streams of oil!
When I went forth to the gate unto the city,
When I prepared my seat in the {Or, broad place}street,
The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the aged rose up and stood;
The princes refrained from talking,
And laid their hand on their mouth;
The voice of the nobels was {Hebrew: hid.}hushed,
And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me;
And when the eye saw me, it gave witness unto me:
Because I delivered the poor that cried,
The fatherless also, {Or, and him that had &c.}that had none to help him.
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me;
And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it {Or, clothed itself with me}clothed me:
My justice was as a robe and a {Or, turban.}diadem.
I was eyes to the blind,
And feet was I to the lame.
I was a father to the needy:
And {Or, the cause which i knew not}the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.
And I brake the {Hebrew: great teeth.}jaws of the unrighteous,
And plucked the prey out of his teeth.
Then I said, I shall die {Or, beside Hebrew: with.}in my nest,
And I shall multiply my days as the sand:
My root is {Hebrew: opened.}spread out {Or, by}to the waters,
And the dew lieth all night upon my branch;
My glory is fresh in me,
And my bow is renewed in my hand.
Unto me men gave ear, and waited,
And kept silence for my counsel.
After my words they spake not again;
And my speech distilled upon them.
And they waited for me as for the rain;
And they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
I smiled on them, when they had no confidence;
And the light of my countenance they cast not down.
I chose out their way, and sat as chief,
And dwelt as a king in the army,
As one that comforteth the mourners.
Querverweise zu Hiob 29,22 Hiob 29,22
They are amazed, they answer no more:They have not a word to say.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain;My speech shall distil as the dew,As the small rain upon the tender grass,And as the showers upon the herb.
And shall I wait, because they speak not,Because they stand still, and answer no more?
Thy lips, O my bride, {Or, drop honey}drop as the honeycomb:Honey and milk are under thy tongue;And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
Mark well, O Job, hearken unto me:Hold thy peace, and I will speak.
If thou hast anything to say, answer me:Speak, for I desire to justify thee.
If not, hearken thou unto me:Hold thy peace, and I will teach thee wisdom.
Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South;
so shall he {Or, startle}sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths {Or, because of}at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they {Or, consider}understand.
Now therefore hear thou the word of Jehovah: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac;
And no one was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
{Or, Prophesy ye not, they are ever prophesying, say they Hebrew: Drop &c. See Amos 7:16.}Prophesy ye not, thus they prophesy. They shall not prophesy {Or, of these things: their reproaches never cease}to these: reproaches shall not depart.