Job 29 — AAB
Job’s Former Blessings
29Verse 1And Job continued his discourse:Verse 2“How I long for the months gone by,for the days when God watched over me,Verse 3when His lamp shone above my head,and by His light I walked through the darkness,Verse 4when I was in my prime,+when the friendship of God rested on my tent,Verse 5when the Almighty was still with meand my children were around me,Verse 6when my steps were bathed in creamand the rock poured out for me streams of oil!Verse 7When I went out to the city gateand took my seat in the public square,Verse 8the young men saw me and withdrew,and the old men rose to their feet.Verse 9The princes refrained from speakingand covered their mouths with their hands.Verse 10The voices of the nobles were hushed,and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.Verse 11For those who heard me called me blessed,and those who saw me commended me,Verse 12because I rescued the poor who cried outand the fatherless who had no helper.Verse 13The dying man blessed me,and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.Verse 14I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;justice was my robe and my turban.Verse 15I served as eyes to the blindand as feet to the lame.Verse 16I was a father to the needy,and I took up the case of the stranger.Verse 17I shattered the fangs of the unjustand snatched the prey from his teeth.Verse 18So I thought: ‘I will die in my nestand multiply my days as the sand.Verse 19My roots will spread out to the waters,and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.Verse 20My glory is ever new within me,and my bow is renewed in my hand.’Verse 21Men listened to me with expectation,waiting silently for my counsel.Verse 22After my words, they spoke no more;my speech settled on them like dew.Verse 23They waited for me as for rainand drank in my words like spring showers.Verse 24If I smiled at them, they did not believe it;the light of my countenance was precious.Verse 25I chose their course and presided as chief.So I dwelt as a king among his troops,as a comforter of the mourners.