Job 29

Job’s Final Defense

29Job continued his discourse:^d

²“How I long for the months gone by,^e

for the days when God watched over me,^f

³when his lamp shone on my head

and by his light I walked through darkness!^g

⁴Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,

when God’s intimate friendship^h blessed my house,ⁱ

⁵when the Almighty was still with me

and my children^j were around me,^k

⁶when my path was drenched with cream^l

and the rock^m poured out for me streams of olive oil.ⁿ

⁷“When I went to the gate^o of the city

and took my seat in the public square,

⁸the young men saw me and stepped aside^p

and the old men rose to their feet;^q

⁹the chief men refrained from speaking^r

and covered their mouths with their hands;^s

¹⁰the voices of the nobles were hushed,^t

and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.^u

¹¹Whoever heard me spoke well of me,

and those who saw me commended me,^v

¹²because I rescued the poor^w who cried for help,

and the fatherless^x who had none to assist them.^y

¹³The one who was dying blessed me;^z

I made the widow’s^a heart sing.

¹⁴I put on righteousness^b as my clothing;

justice was my robe and my turban.^c

¹⁵I was eyes^d to the blind

and feet to the lame.^e

¹⁶I was a father to the needy;^f

I took up the case^g of the stranger.^h

¹⁷I broke the fangs of the wicked

and snatched the victimsⁱ from their teeth.^j

¹⁸“I thought, ‘I will die in my own house,

my days as numerous as the grains of sand.^k

¹⁹My roots will reach to the water,^l

and the dew will lie all night on my branches.^m

²⁰My glory will not fade;ⁿ

the bow^o will be ever new in my hand.’^p

²¹“People listened to me expectantly,

waiting in silence for my counsel.^q

²²After I had spoken, they spoke no more;^r

my words fell gently on their ears.^s

²³They waited for me as for showers

and drank in my words as the spring rain.^t

²⁴When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;

the light of my face^u was precious to them.^av

²⁵I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;^w

I dwelt as a king^x among his troops;

I was like one who comforts mourners.^y