Job 29 (New American Standard)

Job's Past Was Glorious

1 And Job again took up his ¹discourse and said, 2 "Oh that I were as in months gone by, As in the days when God ²watched over me; 3 When ³His lamp shone over my head, And ⁴by His light I walked through darkness ; 4 As I was in ^athe prime of my days, When the ^b5friendship of God was over my tent ; 5 When ^cthe Almighty was yet with me, And my children were around me; 6 When my steps were bathed in ⁶butter, And the ⁷rock poured out for me streams of oil ! 7 "When I went out to ⁸the gate of the city, When I ^dtook my seat in the square, 8 The young men saw me and hid themselves, And the old men arose and stood. 9 "The princes ⁹stopped talking And ¹⁰put their hands on their mouths ; 10 The voice of the nobles was ^e11hushed, And their ¹²tongue stuck to their palate. 11 "For when ¹³the ear heard, it called me blessed, And when the eye saw, it gave witness of me, 12 Because I delivered ¹⁴the poor who cried for help, And the ¹⁵orphan who had no helper. 13 "The blessing of the one ¹⁶ready to perish came upon me, And I made the ¹⁷widow's heart sing for joy. 14 "I ¹⁸put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban. 15 "I was ¹⁹eyes to the blind And feet to the lame. 16 "I was a father to ²⁰the needy, And I investigated the case which I did not know. 17 "I ²¹broke the jaws of the wicked And snatched the prey from his teeth. 18 "Then I ^fthought, 'I shall die ^gin my nest, And I shall multiply my days as the sand. 19 'My ²²root is spread out to the waters, And ²³dew lies all night on my branch. 20 'My glory is ever new with me, And my ²⁴bow is renewed in my hand.' 21 "To me ²⁵they listened and waited, And kept silent for my counsel. 22 "After my words they did not ²⁶speak again, And ²⁷my 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 ²⁸chief, And dwelt as a king among the troops, As one who ²⁹comforted the mourners.