1Job continued to speak. He said,2‘How I long for the times when things were better! That’s when God watched over me.3The light of his lamp shone on me. I walked through darkness by his light.4Those were the best days of my life. That’s when God’s friendship blessed my house.5The Mighty One was still with me. My children were all around me.6The path in front of me was like sweet cream. It was as if the rock poured out olive oil for me.7‘In those days I went to the city gate. I took my seat as a member of the council.8Young people who saw me stepped to one side. Old people stood up as I approached.9The leaders stopped speaking. They covered their mouths with their hands.10The voices of the nobles became quiet. Their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.11Everyone who heard me said good things about me. Those who saw me honoured me.12That’s because I saved poor people who cried out for help. I saved helpless children whose fathers had died.13Those who were dying gave me their blessing. I made the hearts of widows sing.14I put on a godly life as if it were my clothes. Fairness was my robe and my turban.15I was like eyes for those who were blind. I was like feet for those who couldn’t walk.16I was like a father to needy people. I stood up for strangers in court.17Sinners are like animals that have powerful teeth. But I took from their mouths the people they had caught.18‘I thought, “I’ll die in my own house. The days of my life will be as many as the grains of sand.19My roots will reach down to the water. The dew will lie all night on my branches.20I will remain healthy and strong. My bow will stay as good as new in my hand.”21‘People wanted to hear what I had to say. They waited silently for the advice I gave them.22After I had spoken, they didn’t speak anymore. My words fell gently on their ears.23They waited for me just as they would wait for rain showers. They drank my words just as they would drink the spring rain.24When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it. The light of my face lifted their spirits.25I chose the way they should go. I sat as their chief. I lived as a king lives among his troops. I was like someone who comforts those who are sad.
Job 29
English Standard Version
Job’s Summary Defense
1And Job again took up his discourse, and said: (Nu 23:7; Job 27:1)2“Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me,3when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, (2Sa 21:17; Job 18:6; Ps 18:28)4as I was in my prime,[1] when the friendship of God was upon my tent, (Job 15:8; Ps 25:14; Pr 3:32)5when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were all around me, (Job 1:2; Ps 128:3)6when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil! (Ge 49:11; De 32:13; De 33:24; Job 20:17; Ps 81:16)7When I went out to the gate of the city, when I prepared my seat in the square, (Job 5:4)8the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose and stood;9the princes refrained from talking and laid their hand on their mouth; (Job 21:5)10the voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth. (Ps 22:15; Ps 137:6; La 4:4; Eze 3:26)11When the ear heard, it called me blessed, and when the eye saw, it approved,12because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him. (Ps 72:12)13The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. (Ru 2:20; Job 31:20; Pr 31:6; Isa 27:13)14I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. (Job 19:9; Ps 132:9; Isa 11:5; Isa 59:17; Isa 61:10; Isa 62:3; Zec 3:5; Eph 6:14; 1Th 5:8)15I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. (Nu 10:31)16I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. (Pr 29:7)17I broke the fangs of the unrighteous and made him drop his prey from his teeth. (Ps 3:7; Ps 58:6; Pr 30:14)18Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand, (Ge 22:17; Nu 24:21; Job 39:27; Ps 30:6)19my roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches, (Job 14:9; Job 18:16; Ps 1:3)20my glory fresh with me, and my bow ever new in my hand.’ (Ge 49:24; Isa 40:31; Isa 41:1)21“Men listened to me and waited and kept silence for my counsel.22After I spoke they did not speak again, and my word dropped upon them. (De 32:2; De 33:28)23They waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouths as for the spring rain. (De 11:14; Ps 119:131; Pr 16:15; Isa 5:14; Jer 3:3; Zec 10:1)24I smiled on them when they had no confidence, and the light of my face they did not cast down. (Ge 4:5; Pr 16:15)25I chose their way and sat as chief, and I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners. (Job 15:24)