Job   

Chapter

29:1Job continued his discourse:
29:2"How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
29:3when his lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness!
29:4Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed my house,
29:5when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
29:6when my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.
29:7"When I went to the gate of the city and took my seat in the public square,
29:8the young men saw me and stepped aside and the old men rose to their feet;
29:9the chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands;
29:10the voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
29:11Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me,
29:12because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him.
29:13The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow's heart sing.
29:14I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban.
29:15I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.
29:16I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger.
29:17I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.
29:18"I thought, 'I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
29:19My roots will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches.
29:20My glory will remain fresh in me, the bow ever new in my hand.'
29:21"Men listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel.
29:22After I had spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell gently on their ears.
29:23They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain.
29:24When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them.
29:25I 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.
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