Job
Whoever listened to me, spoke well of me
29
1 Job continued his discourse: 2 Oh, that I were in months gone by,
2 in the days when God watched over me,
3 when his light shone upon my head
3 and I walked with it through darkness.
4 Oh, that I were in my prime,
4 when God’s friendship blessed my home,
5 when the Almighty was still with me
5 and my children were around me,
6 when milk bathed my footsteps
6 and olive oil flowed from the rock.
7 When I went to the city gate
7 and took up my seat in the square
9 the chief men dared not speak
9 but laid their hands on their mouths;
10 the princes were silenced,
10 their tongues stuck to the palate.
21 They listened to me and waited in silence
21 for my counsel.
22 Once I spoke they said no more,
22 but drop by drop my words kept falling on them.
24 If I smiled at them, they did not dare believe it;
24 not a glance of mine was lost.
25 I pointed out the way, as a leader
25 and took a king’s place among the troops.
25 Wherever I led them, they went.
11 Whoever heard me, spoke well of me,
11 and those who saw me commended me,
12 for I rescued the poor who cried for help,
12 the fatherless and the unassisted.
13 I was blessed by the dying man;
13 I turned to peace the widow’s pining.
14 I was wearing my honesty like a garment,
14 my integrity was my robe and turban.
15 I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame,
16 father to the needy, the stranger’s advocate.
17 I broke the jaws of the wicked,
17 and from his teeth forced out the prey.
18 I said to myself: “I will die old,
18 my days as many as the grains of sand.
19 My roots will reach to the water;
19 at night my branches will be wet with dew.
20 My glory will remain fresh,
20 the bow ever strong in my grip.”