Job 29:2-25

29:2 “O that I could be as I was

in the months now gone,

in the days when God watched over me,

29:3 when he caused his lamp

to shine upon my head,

and by his light

I walked through darkness;

29:4 just as I was in my most productive time,

when God’s intimate friendship was experienced in my tent,

29:5 when the Almighty was still with me

and my children were around me;

29:6 when my steps were bathed with butter

and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil!

29:7 When I went out to the city gate

and secured my seat in the public square,

29:8 the young men would see me and step aside,

and the old men would get up and remain standing;

29:9 the chief men refrained from talking

and covered their mouths with their hands;

29:10 the voices of the nobles fell silent,

and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

Job’s Benevolence

29:11 “As soon as the ear heard these things, it blessed me,

and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,

29:12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,

and the orphan who had no one to assist him;

29:13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me,

and I made the widow’s heart rejoice;

29:14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me,

my just dealing was like a robe and a turban;

29:15 I was eyes for the blind

and feet for the lame;

29:16 I was a father to the needy,

and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;

29:17 I broke the fangs of the wicked,

and made him drop his prey from his teeth.

Job’s Confidence

29:18 “Then I thought, ‘I will die in my own home,

my days as numerous as the grains of sand.

29:19 My roots reach the water,

and the dew lies on my branches all night long.

29:20 My glory will always be fresh in me,

and my bow ever new in my hand.’

Job’s Reputation

29:21 “People listened to me and waited silently;

they kept silent for my advice.

29:22 After I had spoken, they did not respond;

my words fell on them drop by drop.

29:23 They waited for me as people wait for the rain,

and they opened their mouths

as for the spring rains.

29:24 If I smiled at them, they hardly believed it;

and they did not cause the light of my face to darken.

29:25 I chose the way for them

and sat as their chief;

I lived like a king among his troops;

I was like one who comforts mourners.