Chapter 29
| Collection: | The Book of Job and 42 Paintings |
| Author: | Fr. Antonio Oteiza |
| Type: | Painting |
| Location: | Cataloguing Room |
| Characteristics: | Acrylic paint on cardboard |
| Artwork: |
Click to enlarge |
| Description: |
Job continued reciting his verses and said: “If only I could return to the days gone by, when God watched over me, when his lamp shone above my head and by its light I walked through the darkness! Those days of my maturity, when God was an intimate presence in my tent, when the Almighty was with me and my children surrounded me! I washed my feet in milk, and the rock poured out streams of oil for me. When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the square, the young men saw me and hid themselves; the elders rose and remained standing. The leaders refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands; the nobles fell silent, and their tongues clung to the roofs of their mouths. Every ear that heard me praised me, and every eye that saw me approved of me. I delivered the poor who cried out for help and the defenceless orphan. I received the blessing of the wanderer and made the widow’s heart rejoice. I clothed myself in righteousness and wrapped myself in it; justice was my cloak and my turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the poor and examined the case of the stranger. I broke the jaws of the wicked and tore the prey from their teeth. And I thought: ‘I shall die within my nest, with days as countless as the sand.’ My roots reached down to the water, and the dew rested upon my branches. My honour was continually renewed, and my bow grew stronger in my hand. They listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel. After I had spoken, they added nothing; my words fell gently upon them. They waited for them like the early rain and drank them in like the latter rain. When I smiled at them, they could scarcely believe it, and they did not miss a gleam from my face. I chose their path and sat at their head, established like a king among his retinue. I guided them, and they allowed themselves to be led.” |
