Job 29:1
And Job continued his discourse:
Job 29:2
“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
Job 29:3
when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,
Job 29:4
when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent,
Job 29:5
when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
Job 29:6
when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
Job 29:7
When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
Job 29:8
the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.
Job 29:9
The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
Job 29:10
The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
Job 29:11
For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,
Job 29:12
because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
Job 29:13
The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
Job 29:14
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.
Job 29:15
I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame.
Job 29:16
I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.
Job 29:17
I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
Job 29:18
So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.
Job 29:19
My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.
Job 29:20
My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’
Job 29:21
Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel.
Job 29:22
After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.
Job 29:23
They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
Job 29:24
If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.
Job 29:25
I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.