Job 29- 1
- Job continued his discourse:
- 2
- "How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
- 3
- when his lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness!
- 4
- Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed my house,
- 5
- when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
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- when my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.
- 7
- "When I went to the gate of the city and took my seat in the public square,
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- the young men saw me and stepped aside and the old men rose to their feet;
- 9
- the chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands;
- 10
- the voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
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- Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me,
- 12
- because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him.
- 13
- The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow's heart sing.
- 14
- I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban.
- 15
- I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.
- 16
- I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger.
- 17
- I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.
- 18
- "I thought, `I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
- 19
- My roots will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches.
- 20
- My glory will remain fresh in me, the bow ever new in my hand.'
- 21
- "Men listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel.
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- After I had spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell gently on their ears.
- 23
- They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain.
- 24
- When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them. [1]
- 25
- I chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I dwelt as a king among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.
- [24] The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.