| 章 |
| 29:1 |
Job continued his discourse:
|
| 29:2 |
"How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
|
| 29:3 |
when his lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness!
|
| 29:4 |
Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed my house,
|
| 29:5 |
when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
|
| 29:6 |
when my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.
|
| 29:7 |
"When I went to the gate of the city and took my seat in the public square,
|
| 29:8 |
the young men saw me and stepped aside and the old men rose to their feet;
|
| 29:9 |
the chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands;
|
| 29:10 |
the voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
|
| 29:11 |
Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me,
|
| 29:12 |
because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him.
|
| 29:13 |
The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow's heart sing.
|
| 29:14 |
I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban.
|
| 29:15 |
I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.
|
| 29:16 |
I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger.
|
| 29:17 |
I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.
|
| 29:18 |
"I thought, `I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
|
| 29:19 |
My roots will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches.
|
| 29:20 |
My glory will remain fresh in me, the bow ever new in my hand.
|
| 29:21 |
"'Men listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel.
|
| 29:22 |
After I had spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell gently on their ears.
|
| 29:23 |
They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain.
|
| 29:24 |
When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them.
|
| 29:25 |
I chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I dwelt as a king among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.
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