Job 29
1 And Job adds to lift up his allegory and says:
Job also added to this, using figures of speech, and he said:
2 “Who makes me as [in] months past, As [in] the days of God’s preserving me?
Who will grant to me that I might be as I was in former months, according to the days when God kept watch over me?
3 In His causing His lamp to shine on my head, By His light I walk [through] darkness.
At that time, his lamp shined over my head, and by his light, I walked through the darkness.
4 As I have been in days of my maturity, And the counsel of God on my tent.
I was then just as in the days of my youth, when God was privately in my tabernacle.
5 When yet the Mighty One [is] with me. Around me—my young ones,
At that time, the Almighty was with me and my children surrounded me.
6 When washing my goings with butter, And the firm rock [is] with me—streams of oil.
Then, I washed my feet with butter, and a boulder poured out rivers of oil for me.
7 When I go out to the gate by the city, In a broad place I prepare my seat.
When I went to the gate of the city, or to the main street, they prepared a chair for me.
8 Youths have seen me, and they have been hidden, And the aged have risen—they stood up.
The youths saw me and hid themselves, and the elders, rising up, remained standing.
9 Princes have kept in words, And they place a hand on their mouth.
The leaders stopped talking, and they placed a finder over their mouth.
10 The voice of leaders has been hidden, And their tongue has cleaved to the palate.
The commanders subdued their voice, and their tongue adhered to their throat.
11 For the ear heard, and declares me blessed, And the eye has seen, and testifies [to] me.
The ear that heard me, blessed me, and the eye that saw me, gave testimony for me.
12 For I deliver the afflicted who is crying, And the fatherless who has no helper.
This was because I had freed the poor, who cried out, and the orphan, who had no helper.
13 The blessing of the perishing comes on me, And I cause the heart of the widow to sing.
The blessing of him who would have been destroyed came upon me, and I consoled the heart of the widow.
14 I have put on righteousness, and it clothes me, My justice as a robe and a crown.
I put on justice, and I clothed myself with my judgment, like a robe and a diadem.
15 I have been eyes to the blind, And I [am] feet to the lame.
I was an eye for the blind and a foot for the lame.
16 I [am] a father to the needy, And the cause I have not known I search out.
I was the father of the poor; and if I lacked knowledge about any case, I investigated very diligently.
17 And I break the jaw-teeth of the perverse, And from his teeth I cast away prey.
I crushed the jaws of the impious, and I took away prey from his teeth.
18 And I say, I expire with my nest, And I multiply days as the sand.
And I said, “I will die in my little nest, and like a palm tree, I will multiply my days.
19 My root is open to the waters, And dew lodges on my branch.
My root has been spread beside the waters, and the dew will remain with my harvest.
20 My glory [is] fresh with me, And my bow is renewed in my hand.
My glory will always be restored, and my bow will be restored to my hand.”
21 They have listened to me, Indeed, they wait, and are silent for my counsel.
Those who heard me, expected vindication, and they listened closely in silence to my counsel.
22 After my word they do not change, And my speech drops on them,
To my words, they dared to add nothing, and my eloquence poured over them.
23 And they wait for me as [for] rain, And they have opened wide their mouth [As] for the spring rain.
They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for belated rains.
24 I laugh at them—they give no credence, And do not cause the light of my face to fall.
If I had ever laughed at them, they would not have believed it, and the light of my face was not cast down towards the ground.
25 I choose their way, and sit [as] head, And I dwell as a king in a troop, When he comforts mourners.”
If I wished to go to them, I sat down first, and, though I sat like a king surrounded by an army, yet I was a comforter to those who mourned.
