Job 29 — Legacy Standard Bible

Job Continues His Discourse

29And Job continued to lift up his ¹^,^adiscourse and said,

²“Oh that I were as in months gone by,As in the days when God ^akept me,³When ^aHis lamp shone over my head,And ^bby His light I walked through darkness,⁴As I was in ¹the prime of my days,When the ^aintimate counsel with God was over my tent,⁵When ¹the Almighty was yet with me,And my children were around me,⁶When my steps were bathed in ^abutter,And the ^brock poured out for me streams of oil!⁷“When I went out to ^athe gate of the city,When I ¹took my seat in the square,⁸The young men saw me and hid,And the old men arose and stood.⁹“The princes ^astopped talkingAnd ^bput their hands on their mouths;¹⁰The voice of the nobles was ^ahidden away,And their ^btongue clung to their palate.¹¹“For ^athe ear heard, and it called me blessed,And the eye saw, and it gave witness of me,¹²Because I provided escape for ^athe afflicted who cried for help,And the ^borphan who had no helper.¹³“The blessing of the one ^aready to perish came upon me,And I made the ^bwidow’s heart sing for joy.¹⁴“I ^aclothed myself with righteousness, and it clothed me;My justice was like a robe and a turban.¹⁵“I was ^aeyes to the blindAnd feet to the lame.¹⁶“I was a father to ^athe needy,And I searched out the case which I did not know.¹⁷“I ^abroke the fangs of the unjustAnd snatched the prey from his teeth.¹⁸“Then I ¹said, ‘I will breathe my last ²in my nest,And I shall multiply my days as the sand.¹⁹‘My ^aroot is spread out to the waters,And ^bdew lies all night on my branch.²⁰‘My glory is ever new with me,And my ^abow is renewed in my hand.’²¹“To me ^athey listened and waited,And kept silent for my counsel.²²“After my words they did not ^aspeak again,And ^bmy speech dropped on them.²³“They waited for me as for the rain,And opened their mouth as for the ¹late rain.²⁴“I laughed with them as they could not believe it,And the light of my face they did not cast down.²⁵“I chose a way for them and sat as ^atheir head,And dwelt as a king among the troops,As one who ^bcomforted the mourners.