• Job Continues His Discourse

  • 1 And Job continued to lift up his discourse and said,
  • 2 “Oh that I were as in months gone by, As in the days when God kept me,
  • 3 When His lamp shone over my head, And by His light I walked through darkness,
  • 4 As I was in the prime of my days, When the intimate counsel with God was over my tent,
  • 5 When the Almighty was yet with me, And my children were around me,
  • 6 When my steps were bathed in butter, And the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
  • 7 “When I went out to the gate of the city, When I took my seat in the square,
  • 8 The young men saw me and hid, And the old men arose and stood.
  • 9 “The princes stopped talking And put their hands on their mouths;
  • 10 The voice of the nobles was hidden away, And their tongue clung to their palate.
  • 11 “For the ear heard, and it called me blessed, And the eye saw, and it gave witness of me,
  • 12 Because I provided escape for the afflicted who cried for help, And the orphan who had no helper.
  • 13 “The blessing of the one ready to perish came upon me, And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
  • 14 “I clothed myself with righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban.
  • 15 “I was eyes to the blind And feet to the lame.
  • 16 “I was a father to the needy, And I searched out the case which I did not know.
  • 17 “I broke the fangs of the unjust And snatched the prey from his teeth.
  • 18 “Then I said, ‘I will breathe my last in my nest, And I shall multiply my days as the sand.
  • 19 ‘My root is spread out to the waters, And dew lies all night on my branch.
  • 20 ‘My glory is ever new with me, And my bow is renewed in my hand.’
  • 21 “To me they listened and waited, And kept silent for my counsel.
  • 22 “After my words they did not speak again, And my speech dropped on them.
  • 23 “They waited for me as for the rain, And opened their mouth as for the late 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 chief, And dwelt as their head among the troops, As one who comforted the mourners.