Job 29 - American Standard Version 2015

¹ And Job again took up his parable, and said,

² Oh that I were as in the months of old,\par\tab As in the days when God watched over me;

³ When his lamp shined upon my head,\par\tab And by his light I walked through darkness;

⁴ As I was in the ripeness of my days,\par\tab When the friendship of God was upon my tent;

⁵ When the Almighty was yet with me,\par\tab And my children were about me;

⁶ When my steps were washed with butter,\par\tab And the rock poured me out streams of oil!

⁷ When I went forth to the gate unto the city,\par\tab When I prepared my seat in the street,

⁸ The young men saw me and hid themselves,\par\tab And the aged rose up and stood;

⁹ The princes refrained from talking,\par\tab And laid their hand on their mouth;

¹⁰ The voice of the nobels was hushed,\par\tab And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.

¹¹ For when the ear heard {\i me}, then it blessed me;\par\tab And when the eye saw {\i me}, it gave witness unto me:

¹² Because I delivered the poor that cried,\par\tab The fatherless also, that had none to help him.

¹³ The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me;\par\tab And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me:\par\tab My justice was as a robe and a diadem.

¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind,\par\tab And feet was I to the lame.

¹⁶ I was a father to the needy:\par\tab And the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.

¹⁷ And I brake the jaws of the unrighteous,\par\tab And plucked the prey out of his teeth.

¹⁸ Then I said, I shall die in my nest,\par\tab And I shall multiply my days as the sand:

¹⁹ My root is spread out to the waters,\par\tab And the dew lieth all night upon my branch;

²⁰ My glory is fresh in me,\par\tab And my bow is renewed in my hand.

²¹ Unto me men gave ear, and waited,\par\tab And kept silence for my counsel.

²² After my words they spake not again;\par\tab And my speech distilled upon them.

²³ And they waited for me as for the rain;\par\tab And they opened their mouth wide {\i as} for the latter rain.

²⁴ I smiled on them, when they had no confidence;\par\tab And the light of my countenance they cast not down.

²⁵ I chose out their way, and sat {\i as} chief,\par\tab And dwelt as a king in the army,\par\tab As one that comforteth the mourners.\par