Job 29

²“Oh that I were as in the months of old,

³when his lamp shone on my head,

⁴as I was in my prime,

⁵when the Almighty was yet with me,

⁶when my steps were washed with butter,

⁷when I went out to the city gate,

⁸The young men saw me and hid themselves.

⁹The princes refrained from talking,

¹⁰The voice of the nobles was hushed,

¹¹For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me,

¹²because I delivered the poor who cried,

¹³the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me,

¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me.

¹⁵I was eyes to the blind,

¹⁶I was a father to the needy.

¹⁷I broke the jaws of the unrighteous

¹⁸Then I said, ‘I will die in my own house,

¹⁹My root is spread out to the waters.

²⁰My glory is fresh in me.

²¹“Men listened to me, waited,

²²After my words they didn’t speak again.

²³They waited for me as for the rain.

²⁴I smiled on them when they had no confidence.

²⁵I chose out their way, and sat as chief.