Job
Job 29
1 Job took up his prelude again and said:
The Days When God Kept Watch
2 “Who will set me back in the months that are past,
in the days when God kept guard over me?
3 As when his lamp shone above my head,
when I walked by his light through the dark;
4 when my step had weight on the roads,
when God kept watch over my house;
5 when I stood thick with growth like a wood,
and my children were all around me;
6 when my roads ran with butter,
and my mountains ran with milk.
When the City Stood Up for Me
7 When I went out at dawn into the city,
and my seat was set for me in the open square,
8 the young men saw me and slipped out of sight,
and all the old men rose to their feet.
9 The great men broke off speaking
and laid a finger on their lips.
10 Those who heard me called me blessed,
and their tongue stuck to their throat.
11 For the ear that heard me called me blessed,
and the eye that saw me turned aside.
12 For I saved the poor man out of the hand of the sovereign,
and I helped the orphan who had no helper.
13 Let the blessing of the man who was perishing come upon me;
the widow’s mouth blessed me.
14 I had put on righteousness,
and I wrapped myself in judgment like a double cloak.
15 I was an eye for the blind
and a foot for the lame.
16 I was a father to the helpless,
and the case I did not know, I tracked down.
17 I broke the back teeth of the unrighteous
and tore the catch out from between their teeth.
I Thought I Would Live a Long While
18 And I said, ‘My time of life will grow old;
like the trunk of a palm I will live a long while.
19 My root is opened wide upon water,
and the dew will spend the night on my harvest.
20 My glory is fresh with me,
and my bow will go out in his hand.’
21 Men listened to me and paid attention,
and they fell silent at my counsel.
22 After my word they added nothing,
and they were overjoyed whenever I spoke to them.
23 As thirsty ground waits for the rain,
so they waited for my speech.
24 If I laughed toward them they could not believe it,
and the light of my face never fell.
25 I chose out their road and sat as their ruler,
and I settled among them like a king among his soldiers,
like a man comforting those in grief.”