Job 29:2-25

2 “Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
as in the days when God watched over me,
3 when his ^alamp shone upon my head,
and by his light I walked through darkness,
4 as I was in my prime, ^{▼▼Hebrew my autumn days}
when the ^cfriendship of God was upon my tent,
5 when the Almighty was yet with me,
when my ^dchildren were all around me,
6 when my steps were ^ewashed with ^fbutter,
and ^gthe rock poured out for me streams of ^hoil!
7 When I went out to ⁱthe gate of the city,
when I prepared my seat in the square,
8 the young men saw me and withdrew,
and the aged rose and stood;
9 the princes refrained from talking
and ^jlaid their hand on their mouth;
10 the voice of the nobles was hushed,
and their ^ktongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
11 When the ear heard, it called me blessed,
and when the eye saw, it approved,
12 because I ^ldelivered the poor who cried for help,
and the fatherless who had none to help him.
13 ^mThe blessing of him who was ⁿabout to perish came upon me,
and I caused ^othe widow’s heart to sing for joy.
14 I ^pput on righteousness, and it clothed me;
my justice was like a robe and ^qa turban.
15 I was ^reyes to the blind
and feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the needy,
and I searched out ^sthe cause of him whom I did not know.
17 I ^tbroke ^uthe fangs of the unrighteous
and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
18 ^vThen I thought, ‘I shall die in my ^wnest,
and I shall multiply my days as ^xthe sand,
19 my ^yroots spread out to ^zthe waters,
with the dew all night on my ^aabranches,
20 my glory fresh with me,
and my ^abbow ever ^acnew in my hand.’
21 “Men listened to me and waited
and kept silence for my counsel.
22 After I spoke they did not speak again,
and my word ^addropped upon them.
23 They waited for me as for the rain,
and they ^aeopened their mouths as for the ^afspring rain.
24 I smiled on them when they had no confidence,
and ^agthe light of my ^ahface they did not cast down.
25 I chose their way and sat as chief,
and I lived like ^aia king among his troops,
like one who comforts mourners.