Job 29
1 And Job continued his discourse:
Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said:
2 “How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
O that I were as in months past, In the days when God was my guardian;
3 when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,
When his lamp shined over my head, And when by his light I walked through darkness!
4 when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent,
As I was in the autumn of my days, When the friendship of God was over my tent;
5 when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
When the Almighty was yet with me, And my children were around me;
6 when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
When I bathed my steps in milk, And the rock poured me out rivers of oil!
7 When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
When I went forth to the gate by the city, And took my seat in the market-place,
8 the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.
The young men saw me and hid themselves, And the aged arose and stood.
9 The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
The princes refrained from speaking, And laid their hand upon their mouth.
10 The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
The nobles held their peace, And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
11 For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,
When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; And when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me.
12 because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
For I delivered the poor, when they cried; And the fatherless, who had none to help him.
13 The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, And I caused the heart of the widow to sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.
I clothed myself with righteousness, and it clothed itself with me; And justice was my robe and diadem.
15 I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame.
I was eyes to the blind, And feet was I to the lame;
16 I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.
I was a father to the poor, And the cause of him I knew not I searched out;
17 I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
And I broke the teeth of the wicked, And plucked the spoil from his jaws.
18 So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.
Then said I, “I shall die in my nest; I shall multiply my days as the sand.
19 My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.
My root is spread abroad to the waters, And the dew abideth on my branches.
20 My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’
My glory is fresh with me, And my bow gathereth strength in my hand.”
21 Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel.
To me men gave ear, and waited, And kept silence for my counsel.
22 After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.
To my words they made no reply, When my speech dropped down upon them.
23 They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
Yea, they waited for me as for the rain; They opened their mouths wide as for the latter rain.
24 If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.
If I smiled upon them, they believed it not; Nor did they cause the light of my countenance to fall.
25 I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.
When I came among them, I sat as chief; I dwelt as a king in the midst of an army, As a comforter among mourners.
