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The great wisdom of the ages begins with fearing God. It is the evil of the world that clouds our understanding and leads us into foolishness.

29 Job continued.

Job: Ah, that I were as I once was, months ago
        during the time when God oversaw me,
    When His lamp shone above my head,
        and by His light, I walked through the darkness.
    Ah, to be in the ripest time of life once more
        when the intimacies of friendship with God enfolded my tent,
    When the Highest One[a] was with me
        and my children encircled me,
    When my steps were bathed in milk
        and the rock poured out rivers of olive oil, showering my body,
    When I went up to the gate of the city,
        when I took my seat in the town square where the elders meet.
    There the young saw me and made room for me, in deference to elders.
        The old rose and stood out of respect.
    The leaders stopped talking
        with their hands over their mouths.
10     The voices of nobles fell to a hush;
        their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
11     Every ear that heard me blessed me,
        and every eye that saw me testified to my greatness.
12     After all, I rescued the poor when they cried out for help
        and assisted the orphans when they had no one else.

Great virtue has always begun with the treatment of the poor. Can Job be accused of having a hard heart?

13     The dying spoke their blessings over me,
        and the widows sang their joyful songs honoring what I did.
14     I adorned myself in righteousness,
        and it covered me;
        my justice fit me like a cloak and turban—
        conveying both my dignity and my authority.
15     I was the eyes for the blind,
        the feet for the lame,
16     A father for the needy,
        and I sought for the cause of whom I did not know.
17     I broke out the fangs of the wicked
        and wrested prey from their jaws.
18     Then I said, “I will pass from this earth in the comfort of my nest.
        My days will be more numerous than a beach’s grains of sand.
19     My roots will grow deep, spreading out to the water’s edge,
        and in the night, the dew will come to rest on my branches.
20     Respect will be accorded me every day,
        my skill with the bow always new in my hand.”

21     People used to listen to me,
        the sense of expectation visible on their faces;
        they waited in silence for my advice.
22     And when I finished, they did not hurry to speak again.
        They waited while my words dropped like dew upon them.
23     Indeed, they waited for me as one waits for a good rain,
        and they opened their mouths as if to catch spring showers on their tongues.
24     I smiled upon them when their confidence flagged,
        and they took comfort in my beaming face.[b]
25     I led them in their way.
        I sat as their leader.
    I lived like a king among his troops.
        I was as a happy man spreading comfort among the mourners.

Footnotes

  1. 29:5 Hebrew, Shaddai
  2. 29:24 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

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)

“When I went to the gate(L) of the city
    and took my seat in the public square,
the young men saw me and stepped aside(M)
    and the old men rose to their feet;(N)
the chief men refrained from speaking(O)
    and covered their mouths with their hands;(P)
10 the voices of the nobles were hushed,(Q)
    and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.(R)
11 Whoever heard me spoke well of me,
    and those who saw me commended me,(S)
12 because I rescued the poor(T) who cried for help,
    and the fatherless(U) who had none to assist them.(V)
13 The one who was dying blessed me;(W)
    I made the widow’s(X) heart sing.
14 I put on righteousness(Y) as my clothing;
    justice was my robe and my turban.(Z)
15 I was eyes(AA) to the blind
    and feet to the lame.(AB)
16 I was a father to the needy;(AC)
    I took up the case(AD) of the stranger.(AE)
17 I broke the fangs of the wicked
    and snatched the victims(AF) from their teeth.(AG)

18 “I thought, ‘I will die in my own house,
    my days as numerous as the grains of sand.(AH)
19 My roots will reach to the water,(AI)
    and the dew will lie all night on my branches.(AJ)
20 My glory will not fade;(AK)
    the bow(AL) will be ever new in my hand.’(AM)

21 “People listened to me expectantly,
    waiting in silence for my counsel.(AN)
22 After I had spoken, they spoke no more;(AO)
    my words fell gently on their ears.(AP)
23 They waited for me as for showers
    and drank in my words as the spring rain.(AQ)
24 When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;
    the light of my face(AR) was precious to them.[a](AS)
25 I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;(AT)
    I dwelt as a king(AU) among his troops;
    I was like one who comforts mourners.(AV)

Footnotes

  1. Job 29:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.