Job 29 / 42
- 1Job continued his discourse:
- 2"How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
- 3when his lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness!
- 4Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed my house,
- 5when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
- 6when my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.
- 7"When I went to the gate of the city and took my seat in the public square,
- 8the young men saw me and stepped aside and the old men rose to their feet;
- 9the chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands;
- 10the voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
- 11Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me,
- 12because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him.
- 13The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow's heart sing.
- 14I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban.
- 15I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.
- 16I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger.
- 17I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.
- 18"I thought, 'I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
- 19My roots will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches.
- 20My glory will remain fresh in me, the bow ever new in my hand.'
- 21"Men listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel.
- 22After I had spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell gently on their ears.
- 23They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain.
- 24When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them.
- 25I chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I dwelt as a king among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.