Jó 29

¹ And Job again took up his parable, and said,

² Oh that I were as in the months of old, As in the days when God watched over me;

³ When his lamp shined on my head, And by his light I walked through darkness;

⁴ As I was in the ripeness of my days, When the friendship of God was on my tent;

⁵ When the Almighty was yet with me, And my children were about me;

⁶ When my steps were washed with butter, And the rock poured me out streams of oil!

⁷ When I went forth to the gate to the city, When I prepared my seat in the street,

⁸ The young men saw me and hid themselves, And the aged rose up and stood;

⁹ The princes refrained from talking, And laid their hand on their mouth;

¹⁰ The voice of the leaders was hushed, And their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.

¹¹ For when the ear heard [me], then it blessed me; And when the eye saw [me], it gave witness to me:

¹² Because I delivered the poor that cried, The fatherless also, that had none to help him.

¹³ The blessing of him who was ready to perish came upon me; And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: My justice was as a robe and a diadem.

¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind, And I was feet to the lame.

¹⁶ I was a father to the needy: And the cause of him who I didn't know I searched out.

¹⁷ And I broke the jaws of the unrighteous, And plucked the prey out of his teeth.

¹⁸ Then I said, I will die in my nest, And I will multiply my days as the sand:

¹⁹ My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lies all night on my branch;

²⁰ My glory is fresh in me, And my bow is renewed in my hand.

²¹ To me men gave ear, and waited, And kept silent for my counsel.

²² After my words they did not speak again; And my speech distilled on them.

²³ And they waited for me as for the rain; And they opened their mouth wide [as] for the latter rain.

²⁴ I smiled on them, when they had no confidence; And the light of my countenance they did not cast down.

²⁵ I chose out their way, and sat [as] chief, And stayed as a king in the army, As one who comforts the mourners.