Job 29:1–25

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