Job’s Past Was Glorious
29 And Job again took up his (A)discourse and said,
2 “Oh that I were as in months gone by,
As in the days when God (B)watched over me;
3 When (C)His lamp shone over my head,
And (D)by His light I walked through darkness;
4 As I was in [a]the prime of my days,
When the [b](E)friendship of God was over my tent;
5 When [c]the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were around me;
6 When my steps were bathed in (F)butter,
And the (G)rock poured out for me streams of oil!
7 “When I went out to (H)the gate of the city,
When I [d]took my seat in the square,
8 The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the old men arose and stood.
9 “The princes (I)stopped talking
And (J)put their hands on their mouths;
10 The voice of the nobles was [e](K)hushed,
And their (L)tongue stuck to their palate.
11 “For when (M)the ear heard, it called me blessed,
And when the eye saw, it gave witness of me,
12 Because I delivered (N)the poor who cried for help,
And the (O)orphan who had no helper.
13 “The blessing of the one (P)ready to perish came upon me,
And I made the (Q)widow’s heart sing for joy.
14 “I (R)put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a turban.
15 “I was (S)eyes to the blind
And feet to the lame.
16 “I was a father to (T)the needy,
And I investigated the case which I did not know.
17 “I (U)broke the jaws of the wicked
And snatched the prey from his teeth.
18 “Then I [f]thought, ‘I shall die [g]in my nest,
And I shall multiply my days as the sand.
19 ‘My (V)root is spread out to the waters,
And (W)dew lies all night on my branch.
20 ‘My glory is ever new with me,
And my (X)bow is renewed in my hand.’
21 “To me (Y)they listened and waited,
And kept silent for my counsel.
22 “After my words they did not (Z)speak again,
And (AA)my speech dropped on them.
23 “They waited for me as for the rain,
And opened their mouth as for the spring rain.
24 “I smiled on them when they did not believe,
And the light of my face they did not cast down.
25 “I chose a way for them and sat as (AB)chief,
And dwelt as a king among the troops,
As one who (AC)comforted the mourners.
Footnotes
- Job 29:4 Lit the days of my autumn
- Job 29:4 Lit counsel
- Job 29:5 Heb Shaddai
- Job 29:7 Lit set up
- Job 29:10 Lit hidden
- Job 29:18 Lit said
- Job 29:18 Lit with
Cross references
- Job 29:1 : Num 23:7; 24:3; Job 13:12; 27:1
- Job 29:2 : Jer 31:28
- Job 29:3 : Job 18:6
- Job 29:3 : Job 11:17
- Job 29:4 : Job 15:8; Ps 25:14; Prov 3:32
- Job 29:6 : Deut 32:14; Job 20:17
- Job 29:6 : Deut 32:13; Ps 81:16
- Job 29:7 : Job 31:21
- Job 29:9 : Job 29:21
- Job 29:9 : Job 21:5
- Job 29:10 : Job 29:22
- Job 29:10 : Ps 137:6
- Job 29:11 : Job 4:3, 4
- Job 29:12 : Job 24:4, 9; 34:28; Ps 72:12; Prov 21:13
- Job 29:12 : Job 31:17, 21
- Job 29:13 : Job 31:19
- Job 29:13 : Job 22:9
- Job 29:14 : Job 27:5, 6; Ps 132:9; Is 59:17; 61:10; Eph 6:14
- Job 29:15 : Num 10:31
- Job 29:16 : Job 24:4; Prov 29:7
- Job 29:17 : Ps 3:7
- Job 29:19 : Jer 17:8
- Job 29:19 : Hos 14:5
- Job 29:20 : Gen 49:24; Ps 18:34
- Job 29:21 : Job 4:3; 29:9
- Job 29:22 : Job 29:10
- Job 29:22 : Deut 32:2
- Job 29:25 : Job 1:3; 31:37
- Job 29:25 : Job 4:4; 16:5