29:1 Job continued his discourse:
29:2 "How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
29:3 when his lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness!
29:4 Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed my house,
29:5 when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
29:6 when my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.
29:7 "When I went to the gate of the city and took my seat in the public square,
29:8 the young men saw me and stepped aside and the old men rose to their feet;
29:9 the chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands;
29:10 the voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
29:11 Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me,
29:12 because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him.
29:13 The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow's heart sing.
29:14 I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban.
29:15 I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.
29:16 I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger.
29:17 I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.
29:18 "I thought, 'I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
29:19 My roots will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches.
29:20 My glory will remain fresh in me, the bow ever new in my hand.'
29:21 "Men listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel.
29:22 After I had spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell gently on their ears.
29:23 They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain.
29:24 When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them.
29:25 I chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I dwelt as a king among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.
