Job 29
1 And Job continued his parable and said,
And Job continued his discourse:
2 Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;
“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
3 When his lamp shone over my head, [and] by his light I walked through darkness;
when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,
4 As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret counsel of God was over my tent,
when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent,
5 When the Almighty was yet with me, my young men round about me;
when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
6 When my steps were bathed in milk, and the rock poured out beside me rivers of oil! ...
when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
7 When I went out to the gate by the city, when I prepared my seat on the broadway,
When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
8 The young men saw me, and hid themselves; and the aged arose [and] stood up;
the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.
9 Princes refrained from talking, and laid the hand on their mouth;
The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
10 The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue cleaved to their palate.
The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
11 When the ear heard [me], then it blessed me, and when the eye saw [me], it gave witness to me;
For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,
12 For I delivered the afflicted that cried, and the fatherless who had no helper.
because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
13 The blessing of him that was perishing came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was as a mantle and a turban.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.
15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame;
I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the needy, and the cause which I knew not I searched out;
I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.
17 And I broke the jaws of the unrighteous, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
18 And I said, I shall die in my nest, and multiply my days as the sand;
So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.
19 My root shall be spread out to the waters, and the dew will lie all night on my branch;
My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.
20 My glory shall be fresh in me, and my bow be renewed in my hand.
My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’
21 Unto me they listened, and waited, and kept silence for my counsel:
Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel.
22 After my words they spoke not again, and my speech dropped upon them;
After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.
23 And they waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
24 [If] I laughed on them, they believed [it] not; and they troubled not the serenity of my countenance.
If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.
25 I chose their way, and sat as chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth mourners.
I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.
