Job 29
1Job also added to this, using figures of speech, and he said:
2Who will grant to me that I might be as I was in former months, according to the days when God kept watch over me?
3At that time, his lamp shined over my head, and by his light, I walked through the darkness.
4I was then just as in the days of my youth, when God was privately in my tabernacle.
5At that time, the Almighty was with me and my children surrounded me.
6Then, I washed my feet with butter, and a boulder poured out rivers of oil for me.
7When I went to the gate of the city, or to the main street, they prepared a chair for me.
8The youths saw me and hid themselves, and the elders, rising up, remained standing.
9The leaders stopped talking, and they placed a finder over their mouth.
10The commanders subdued their voice, and their tongue adhered to their throat.
11The ear that heard me, blessed me, and the eye that saw me, gave testimony for me.
12This was because I had freed the poor, who cried out, and the orphan, who had no helper.
13The blessing of him who would have been destroyed came upon me, and I consoled the heart of the widow.
14I put on justice, and I clothed myself with my judgment, like a robe and a diadem.
15I was an eye for the blind and a foot for the lame.
16I was the father of the poor; and if I lacked knowledge about any case, I investigated very diligently.
17I crushed the jaws of the impious, and I took away prey from his teeth.
18And I said, “I will die in my little nest, and like a palm tree, I will multiply my days.
19My root has been spread beside the waters, and the dew will remain with my harvest.
20My glory will always be restored, and my bow will be restored to my hand.”
21Those who heard me, expected vindication, and they listened closely in silence to my counsel.
22To my words, they dared to add nothing, and my eloquence poured over them.
23They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for belated rains.
24If 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.
25If 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.
1Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
2Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;
3When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;
4As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;
5When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;
6When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;
7When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
8The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.
9The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
10The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
11When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:
12Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
13The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
14I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
15I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
16I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
17And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
18Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.
19My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.
20My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.
21Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.
22After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.
23And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
24If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.
25I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.