| 1 | And Job again took up his discussion 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 shone above
and
upon my head and by His light I walked through darkness; |
| 4 | As I was in the [prime] ripeness of my days, when the friendship
and
counsel of God were over my tent, |
| 5 | When the Almighty was yet with me and my children were about me, |
| 6 | When my steps [through rich pasturage] were washed with butter and the rock poured out for me streams of oil! |
| 7 | When I went out to the gate of the city, when I prepared my seat in the street [the broad place for the council at the city’s gate], |
| 8 | The young men saw me and hid themselves; the aged rose up
and
stood; |
| 9 | The princes refrained from talking and laid their hands on their mouths; |
| 10 | The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues cleaved to the roof of their mouths. |
| 11 | For when the ear heard, it called me happy
and
blessed me; and when the eye saw, it testified for me [approvingly], |
| 12 | Because I delivered the poor who cried, the fatherless and him who had none to help him. |
| 13 | The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. |
| 14 | I put on
[a]righteousness, and it clothed me
or
clothed itself with me; my justice was like a robe and a turban
or
a diadem
or
a crown! |
| 15 | I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. |
| 16 | I was a father to the poor
and
needy; the cause of him I did not know I searched out. |
| 17 | And I broke the jaws
or
the big teeth of the unrighteous and plucked the prey out of his teeth. |
| 18 | Then I said, I shall die in
or
beside my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand. |
| 19 | My root is spread out
and
open to the waters, and the dew lies all night upon my branch. |
| 20 | My glory
and
honor are fresh in me [being constantly renewed], and my bow gains [ever] new strength in my hand. |
| 21 | Men listened to me and waited and kept silence for my counsel. |
| 22 | After I spoke, they did not speak again, and my speech dropped upon them [like a refreshing shower]. |
| 23 | And they waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouths wide as for the spring rain. |
| 24 | I smiled on them when they had no confidence, and their depression did not cast down the light of my countenance. |
| 25 | I chose their way [for them] and sat as [their] chief, and dwelt like a king among his soldiers, like one who comforts mourners. |
Cross references:
-
Job 29:2 : Eccl. 7:10.
|