Job 29

New King James Version

² “Oh, that I were asinmonths^(A)past,
Asinthe dayswhenGod^(B)watched over me;
^3 (C)When His lamp shone upon my head,
And whenby His light I walkedthroughdarkness;
⁴ Just as I was in the days of my prime,
When^(D)the friendly counsel of Godwasover my tent;
⁵ When the Almightywasyet with me,
Whenmy childrenwerearound me;
⁶ When^(E)my steps were bathed with^[a]cream,
And^(F)the rock poured out rivers of oil for me!

⁷ “When I went out to the gate by the city,
WhenI took my seat in the open square,
⁸ The young men saw me and hid,
And the aged aroseandstood;
⁹ The princes refrained from talking,
And^(G)puttheirhand on their mouth;
¹⁰ The voice of nobles was hushed,
And their^(H)tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
¹¹ When the ear heard, then it blessed me,
And when the eye saw, then it approved me;
¹² Because^(I)I delivered the poor who cried out,
The fatherless andthe one whohad no helper.
¹³ The blessing of a perishingmancame upon me,
And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
^14 (J)I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justicewaslike a robe and a turban.
¹⁵ Iwas^(K)eyes to the blind,
And Iwasfeet to the lame.
¹⁶ Iwasa father to the poor,
And^(L)I searched out the casethatI did not know.
¹⁷ I broke^(M)the fangs of the wicked,
And plucked the victim from his teeth.

¹⁸ “Then I said,^(N)‘I shall die in my nest,
And multiplymydays as the sand.
^19 (O)My rootisspread out^(P)to the waters,
And the dew lies all night on my branch.
²⁰ My gloryisfresh within me,
And my^(Q)bow is renewed in my hand.’

²¹ “Menlistened to me and waited,
And kept silence for my counsel.
²² After my words they did not speak again,
And my speech settled on themas dew.
²³ They waited for measfor the rain,
And they opened their mouth wideasfor^(R)the spring rain.
²⁴ IfI mocked at them, they did not believeit,
And the light of my countenance they did not cast down.
²⁵ I chose the way for them, and sat as chief;
So I dwelt as a king in the army,
As onewhocomforts mourners.