[1] Then Job continued his speech: [2] "O that I could be as I was in the months now gone, in the days when God watched over me, [3] when he caused his lamp to shine upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness; [4] just as I was in my most productive time, when God's intimate friendship was experienced in my tent, [5] when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me; [6] when my steps were bathed with butter and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil! [7] When I went out to the city gate and secured my seat in the public square, [8] the young men would see me and step aside, and the old men would get up and remain standing; [9] the chief men refrained from talking and covered their mouths with their hands; [10] the voices of the nobles fell silent, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. [11] "As soon as the ear heard these things, it blessed me, and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me, [12] for I rescued the poor who cried out for help, and the orphan who had no one to assist him; [13] the blessing of the dying man descended on me, and I made the widow's heart rejoice; [14] I put on righteousness and it clothed me, my just dealing was like a robe and a turban; [15] I was eyes for the blind and feet for the lame; [16] I was a father to the needy, and I investigated the case of the person I did not know; [17] I broke the fangs of the wicked, and made him drop his prey from his teeth. [18] "Then I thought, 'I will die in my own home, my days as numerous as the grains of sand. [19] My roots reach the water, and the dew lies on my branches all night long. [20] My glory will always be fresh in me, and my bow ever new in my hand.' [21] "People listened to me and waited silently; they kept silent for my advice. [22] After I had spoken, they did not respond; my words fell on them drop by drop. [23] They waited for me as people wait for the rain, and they opened their mouths as for the spring rains. [24] If I smiled at them, they hardly believed it; and they did not cause the light of my face to darken. [25] I chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I lived like a king among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.
