Job 29

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¹And Job again took up the word and said,

²If only I might again be as I was in the months which are past, in the days when God was watching over me!

³When his light was shining over my head, and when I went through the dark by his light.

⁴As I was in my flowering years, when my tent was covered by the hand of God;

⁵While the Ruler of all was still with me, and my children were round me;

⁶When my steps were washed with milk, and rivers of oil were flowing out of the rock for me.

⁷When I went out of my door to go up to the town, and took my seat in the public place,

⁸The young men saw me, and went away, and the old men got up from their seats;

⁹The rulers kept quiet, and put their hands on their mouths;

¹⁰The chiefs kept back their words, and their tongues were joined to the roofs of their mouths.

¹¹For when it came to their ears, men said that I was truly happy; and when their eyes saw, they gave witness to me;

¹²For I was a saviour to the poor when he was crying for help, to the child with no father, and to him who had no supporter.

¹³The blessing of him who was near to destruction came on me, and I put a song of joy into the widow's heart.

¹⁴I put on righteousness as my clothing, and was full of it; right decisions were to me a robe and a head-dress.

¹⁵I was eyes to the blind, and feet to him who had no power of walking.

¹⁶I was a father to the poor, searching out the cause of him who was strange to me.

¹⁷By me the great teeth of the evil-doer were broken, and I made him give up what he had violently taken away.

¹⁸Then I said, I will come to my end with my children round me, my days will be as the sand in number;

¹⁹My root will be open to the waters, and the night mist will be on my branches,

²⁰My glory will be ever new, and my bow will be readily bent in my hand.

²¹Men gave ear to me, waiting and keeping quiet for my suggestions.

²²After I had said what was in my mind, they were quiet and let my words go deep into their hearts;

²³They were waiting for me as for the rain, opening their mouths wide as for the spring rains.

²⁴I was laughing at them when they had no hope, and the light of my face was never clouded by their fear.

²⁵I took my place as a chief, guiding them on their way, and I was as a king among his army. ...

Job 29

¹Job again took up his parable, and said,

²"Oh that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me;

³when his lamp shone on my head, and by his light I walked through darkness,

⁴as I was in the ripeness of my days, when the friendship of God was in my tent,

⁵when the Almighty was yet with me, and my children were around me,

⁶when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out streams of oil for me,

⁷when I went forth to the city gate, when I prepared my seat in the street.

⁸The young men saw me and hid themselves. The aged rose up and stood.

⁹The princes refrained from talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.

¹⁰The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.

¹¹For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it commended me:

¹²Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had none to help him,

¹³the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem.

¹⁵I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame.

¹⁶I was a father to the needy. The cause of him who I did not know, I searched out.

¹⁷I broke the jaws of the unrighteous, and plucked the prey out of his teeth.

¹⁸Then I said, 'I shall die in my own house, I shall number my days as the sand.

¹⁹My root is spread out to the waters. The dew lies all night on my branch.

²⁰My glory is fresh in me. My bow is renewed in my hand.'

²¹"Men listened to me, waited, and kept silence for my counsel.

²²After my words they did not speak again. My speech fell on them.

²³They waited for me as for the rain. Their mouths drank as with the spring rain.

²⁴I smiled on them when they had no confidence. They did not reject the light of my face.

²⁵I chose out their way, and sat as chief. I lived as a king in the army, as one who comforts the mourners.