Job’s Past Was Glorious
1And Job again took up his discourse and said,
2“Oh that I were as in months gone by,
As in the days when God watched over 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 friendship of 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 themselves,
And the old men arose and stood.
9The princes stopped talking
And put their hands on their mouths;
10The voice of the nobles was hushed,
And their tongue stuck to their palate.
11For when the ear heard, it called me blessed,
And when the eye saw, it gave witness of me,
12Because I delivered the poor 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 put on 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 investigated the case which I did not know.
17I broke the jaws of the wicked
And snatched the prey from his teeth.
18Then I thought, ‘I shall die 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 spring rain.
24I smiled on them when they did not believe,
And the light of my face they did not cast down.
25I chose a way for them and sat as chief,
And dwelt as a king among the troops,
As one who comforted the mourners.