Job Continues His Discourse

¹And Job continued to lift up his discourse and said,[#29:1 Lit proverb]

²“Oh that I were as in months gone by,

As in the days when God kept me,

³When His lamp shone over my head,

And by His light I walked through darkness,

⁴As I was in the prime of my days,[#29:4 Lit the days of my autumn]

When the intimate counsel with God was over my tent,

⁵When the Almighty was yet with me,[#29:5 Heb Shaddai]

And my children were around me,

⁶When my steps were bathed in butter,

And the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

⁷“When I went out to the gate of the city,

When I took my seat in the square,

⁸The young men saw me and hid,

And the old men arose and stood.

⁹“The princes stopped talking

And put their hands on their mouths;

¹⁰The voice of the nobles was hidden away ,

And their tongue clung to their palate.

¹¹“For the ear heard, and it called me blessed,

And the eye saw, and it gave witness of me,

¹²Because I provided escape for the afflicted who cried for help,

And the orphan who had no helper.

¹³“The blessing of the one ready to perish came upon me,

And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

¹⁴“I clothed myself with righteousness, and it clothed me;

My justice was like a robe and a turban.

¹⁵“I was eyes to the blind

And feet to the lame.

¹⁶“I was a father to the needy,

And I searched out the case which I did not know.

¹⁷“I broke the fangs of the unjust

And snatched the prey from his teeth.

¹⁸“Then I said, ‘I will breathe my last in my nest,[#29:18 Or thought; #29:18 Lit with]

And I shall multiply my days as the sand.

¹⁹‘My root is spread out to the waters,

And dew lies all night on my branch.

²⁰‘My glory is ever new with me,

And my bow is renewed in my hand.’

²¹¶“To me they listened and waited,

And kept silent for my counsel.

²²“After my words they did not speak again,

And my speech dropped on them.

²³“They waited for me as for the rain,

And opened their mouth as for the late rain.

²⁴“I laughed with them as they could not believe it ,

And the light of my face they did not cast down.

²⁵“I chose a way for them and sat as chief,

And dwelt as their head among the troops,

As one who comforted the mourners.