JobChapter 29

Job took up his discourse again and said:
Oh, that I were as in the months gone by, in the days when God watched over me,
when his lamp shone above my head, and by his light I walked through darkness;
as I was in the days of my prime, when God's friendship rested on my tent,
when the Almighty was still with me and my children were all around me,
when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out streams of oil for me.
When I went out to the gate of the city and took my seat in the public square,
the young men saw me and stepped aside, and the aged rose and stood.
The princes held back their words and laid a hand over their mouths.
The voices of the nobles fell silent, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
Whoever heard me called me blessed, and whoever saw me bore witness in my favor,
because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the orphan who had no one to assist him.
The blessing of the dying came upon me, and I made the widow's heart sing for joy.
I clothed myself in righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.
I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.
I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the case of the one I did not know.
I broke the fangs of the wicked and tore the prey from his teeth.
I thought: I will die in my own nest, and my days will be as many as the sand.
My roots reach down to the water, and the dew lies all night on my branches.
My glory stays fresh within me, and my bow is ever new in my hand.
Men listened to me and waited; they kept silent for my counsel.
After I had spoken, they said no more; my words fell gently on them.
They waited for me as for the rain, and opened their mouths wide for the showers of spring.
When I smiled at them, they could scarcely believe it; the light of my face they never let fall.
I chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I dwelt like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.