Job 29
1 And Job addeth to lift up his simile, and saith: —
And Job continued his discourse:
2 Who doth make me as [in] months past, As [in] the days of God's preserving me?
“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
3 In His causing His lamp to shine on my head, By His light I walk [through] darkness.
when His lamp shone above 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 upon my tent.
when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent,
5 When yet the Mighty One [is] with me. Round about me — my young ones,
when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
6 When washing my goings with butter, And the firm rock [is] with me rivulets of oil.
when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
7 When I go out to the gate by the city, In a broad place I prepare my seat.
When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
8 Seen me have youths, and they, been hidden, And the aged have risen — they stood up.
the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.
9 Princes have kept in words, And a hand they place on their mouth.
The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
10 The voice of leaders hath been hidden, And their tongue to the palate hath cleaved.
The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
11 For the ear heard, and declareth me happy, And the eye hath seen, and testifieth [to] me.
For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,
12 For I deliver the afflicted who is crying, And the fatherless who hath no helper.
because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
13 The blessing of the perishing cometh on me, And the heart of the widow I cause to sing.
The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
14 Righteousness I have put on, and it clotheth me, As a robe and a diadem my justice.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.
15 Eyes I have been to the blind, And feet to the lame [am] I.
I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame.
16 A father I [am] to the needy, And the cause I have not known I search out.
I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.
17 And I break the jaw-teeth of the perverse, And from his teeth I cast away prey.
I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
18 And I say, 'With my nest I expire, And as the sand I multiply days.'
So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.
19 My root is open unto the waters, And dew doth lodge on my branch.
My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.
20 My honour [is] fresh with me, And my bow in my hand is renewed.
My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’
21 To me they have hearkened, Yea, they wait, and are silent for my counsel.
Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel.
22 After my word they change not, And on them doth my speech drop,
After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.
23 And they wait as [for] rain for me, And their mouth they have opened wide [As] for the latter rain.
They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
24 I laugh unto them — they give no credence, And the light of my face cause not to fall.
If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.
25 I choose their way, and sit head, And I dwell as a king in a troop, When mourners he doth comfort.
I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.
