Job 29

Chapter 29

Job’s Past Was Glorious

¹And Job again took up his ^adiscourse and said,

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

As in the days when God ^awatched over me;

³When ^aHis lamp shone over my head,

And ^bby His light I walked through darkness;

⁴As I was in ¹the prime of my days,

When the ^2afriendship of God was over my tent;

⁵When ¹the Almighty was yet with me,

And my children were around me;

⁶When my steps were bathed in ^abutter,

And the ^brock poured out for me streams of oil!

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

When I ¹took my seat in the square,

⁸The young men saw me and hid themselves,

And the old men arose and stood.

⁹“The princes ^astopped talking

And ^bput their hands on their mouths;

¹⁰The voice of the nobles was ^1ahushed,

And their ^btongue stuck to their palate.

¹¹“For when ^athe ear heard, it called me blessed,

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

¹²Because I delivered ^athe poor who cried for help,

And the ^borphan who had no helper.

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

And I made the ^bwidow’s heart sing for joy.

¹⁴“I ^aput on righteousness, and it clothed me;

My justice was like a robe and a turban.

¹⁵“I was ^aeyes to the blind

And feet to the lame.

¹⁶“I was a father to ^athe needy,

And I investigated the case which I did not know.

¹⁷“I ^abroke the jaws of the wicked

And snatched the prey from his teeth.

¹⁸“Then I ¹thought, ‘I shall die ²in my nest,

And I shall multiply my days as the sand.

¹⁹‘My ^aroot is spread out to the waters,

And ^bdew lies all night on my branch.

²⁰‘My glory is ever new with me,

And my ^abow is renewed in my hand.’

²¹“To me ^athey listened and waited,

And kept silent for my counsel.

²²“After my words they did not ^aspeak again,

And ^bmy speech dropped on them.

²³“They waited for me as for the rain,

And opened their mouth as for the spring rain.

²⁴“I smiled on them when they did not believe,

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

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

And dwelt as a king among the troops,

As one who ^bcomforted the mourners.