Parallel
Job 29
World English Bible British Edition · Berean Standard Bible
“Oh that I were as in the months of old,
“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
when his lamp shone on my head,
when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,
as I was in my prime,
when I was in my prime (note: Hebrew in the time of my harvest), when the friendship of God rested on my tent,
when the Almighty was yet with me,
when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
when my steps were washed with butter,
when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
when I went out to the city gate,
When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
The young men saw me and hid themselves.
the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.
The princes refrained from talking,
The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
The voice of the nobles was hushed,
The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me,
For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,
because I delivered the poor who cried,
because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me,
The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.
I was a father to the needy.
I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.
I broke the jaws of the unrighteous
I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
Then I said, ‘I will die in my own house,
So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.
My root is spread out to the waters.
My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.
“Men listened to me, waited,
Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel.
After my words they didn’t speak again.
After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.
They waited for me as for the rain.
They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
I smiled on them when they had no confidence.
If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.
I chose out their way, and sat as chief.
I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.