Job 29

IV. Job’s Concluding Soliloquy (29:1-31:40)

Job Recalls His Former Condition¹

29:1 Then Job continued² his speech:

29:2 “O that I could be³ as⁴ I was

in the months now gone,⁵

in the days⁶ when God watched⁷ over me,

29:3 when⁸ he caused⁹ his lamp¹⁰

to shine upon my head,

and by his light

I walked¹¹ through darkness;¹²

29:4 just as I was in my most productive time,¹³

when God’s intimate friendship¹⁴ was experienced in my tent,

29:5 when the Almighty¹⁵ was still with me

and my children were¹⁶ around me;

29:6 when my steps¹⁷ were bathed¹⁸ with butter¹⁹

and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil!²⁰

29:7 When I went out to the city gate

and secured my seat in the public square,²¹

29:8 the young men would see me and step aside,²²

and the old men would get up and remain standing;

29:9 the chief men refrained from talking

and covered their mouths with their hands;

29:10 the voices of the nobles fell silent,²³

and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

Job’s Benevolence

29:11 “As soon as the ear heard these things,²⁴ it blessed me,²⁵

and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,

29:12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,

and the orphan who²⁶ had no one to assist him;

29:13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me,²⁷

and I made the widow’s heart rejoice;²⁸

29:14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me,²⁹

my just dealing³⁰ was like a robe and a turban;

29:15 I was eyes for the blind

and feet for the lame;

29:16 I was a father³¹ to the needy,

and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;

29:17 I broke the fangs³² of the wicked,

and made him drop³³ his prey from his teeth.

Job’s Confidence

29:18 “Then I thought, ‘I will die in my own home,³⁴

my days as numerous as the grains of sand.³⁵

29:19 My roots reach the water,

and the dew lies on my branches all night long.

29:20 My glory³⁶ will always be fresh³⁷ in me,

and my bow ever new in my hand.’

Job’s Reputation

29:21 “People³⁸ listened to me and waited silently;³⁹

they kept silent for my advice.

29:22 After I had spoken, they did not respond;

my words fell on them drop by drop.⁴⁰

29:23 They waited for me as people wait⁴¹ for the rain,

and they opened their mouths⁴²

as for⁴³ the spring rains.

29:24 If I smiled at them, they hardly believed it;⁴⁴

and they did not cause the light of my face to darken.⁴⁵

29:25 I chose⁴⁶ the way for them⁴⁷

and sat as their chief;⁴⁸

I lived like a king among his troops;

I was like one who comforts mourners.⁴⁹

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