Job 29

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

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

³When his lamp shined upon my head,

⁴As I was in the ripeness of my days,

⁵When the Almighty was yet with me,

⁶When my steps were washed with butter,

⁷When I went forth to the gate unto the city,

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 that cried,

¹³The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me;

¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me:

¹⁵I was eyes to the blind,

¹⁶I was a father to the needy:

¹⁷And I brake the jaws of the unrighteous,

¹⁸Then I said, I shall die in my nest,

¹⁹My root is spread out to the waters,

²⁰My glory is fresh in me,

²¹Unto me men gave ear, and waited,

²²After my words they spake not again;

²³And they 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,