Job Continues His Discourse

1And 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,

3When His lamp shone over my head,

And by His light I walked through darkness,

4As I was in [†]the prime of my days,

When the intimate counsel with God was over my tent,

5When [†]the Almighty was yet with me,

And my children were around me,

6When my steps were bathed in butter,

And the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

7When I went out to the gate of the city,

When I [†]took my seat in the square,

8The young men saw me and hid,

And the old men arose and stood.

9The princes stopped talking

And put their hands on their mouths;

10The voice of the nobles was hidden away,

And their tongue clung to their palate.

11For the ear heard, and it called me blessed,

And the eye saw, and it gave witness of me,

12Because I provided escape for the afflicted who cried for help,

And the orphan who had no helper.

13The blessing of the one ready to perish came upon me,

And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

14I clothed myself with righteousness, and it clothed me;

My justice was like a robe and a turban.

15I was eyes to the blind

And feet to the lame.

16I was a father to the needy,

And I searched out the case which I did not know.

17I broke the fangs of the unjust

And snatched the prey from his teeth.

18Then I [†]said, ‘I will breathe my last [†]in my nest,

And I shall multiply my days as the sand.

19My root is spread out to the waters,

And dew lies all night on my branch.

20My 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.

22After my words they did not speak again,

And my speech dropped on them.

23They waited for me as for the rain,

And opened their mouth as for the [†]late rain.

24I laughed with them as they could not believe it,

And the light of my face they did not cast down.

25I chose a way for them and sat as chief,

And dwelt as their head among the troops,

As one who comforted the mourners.