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Job’s Soliloquy[a]
The Happiness of the Good Old Days

29 Job resumed his discourse. He said:

Oh how I wish I could be as I used to be
    in the months gone by,
    in the days when God used to watch over me,
when his lamp was shining over my head,
and I walked through darkness toward[b] his light,
when I was in my prime,
and the friendly guidance of God was over my tent,
when the Almighty was still with me,
and my children still surrounded me,
when my footsteps were washed in cream,
and a rock poured out streams of oil for me,

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Footnotes

  1. Job 29:1 Chapter 29 begins a new section of the book, in which Job’s three friends no longer respond to him.
  2. Job 29:3 Or by

Job’s Final Defense

29 Job continued his discourse:(A)

“How I long for the months gone by,(B)
    for the days when God watched over me,(C)
when his lamp shone on my head
    and by his light I walked through darkness!(D)
Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
    when God’s intimate friendship(E) blessed my house,(F)
when the Almighty was still with me
    and my children(G) were around me,(H)
when my path was drenched with cream(I)
    and the rock(J) poured out for me streams of olive oil.(K)

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29 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,

Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;

When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;

As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;

When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;

When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;

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