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Job's Past Was Glorious

¹ And Job again took up his ^(C1)discourse and said,

² "Oh that I were as in months gone by,
As in the days when God ^(C1)watched over me;

³ When ^(C1)His lamp shone over my head,
And ^(C2)by His light I walked through darkness;

⁴ As I was in ^(F1)the prime of my days,
When the ^(F2)(C1)friendship of God was over my tent;

⁵ When ^(F1)the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were around me;

⁶ When my steps were bathed in ^(C1)butter,
And the ^(C2)rock poured out for me streams of oil!

⁷ "When I went out to ^(C1)the gate of the city,
When I ^(F1)took my seat in the square,

⁸ The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the old men arose and stood.

⁹ "The princes ^(C1)stopped talking
And ^(C2)put their hands on their mouths;

¹⁰ The voice of the nobles was ^(F1)(C1)hushed,
And their ^(C2)tongue stuck to their palate.

¹¹ "For when ^(C1)the ear heard, it called me blessed,
And when the eye saw, it gave witness of me,

¹² Because I delivered ^(C1)the poor who cried for help,
And the ^(C2)orphan who had no helper.

¹³ "The blessing of the one ^(C1)ready to perish came upon me,
And I made the ^(C2)widow's heart sing for joy.

¹⁴ "I ^(C1)put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a turban.

¹⁵ "I was ^(C1)eyes to the blind
And feet to the lame.

¹⁶ "I was a father to ^(C1)the needy,
And I investigated the case which I did not know.

¹⁷ "I ^(C1)broke the jaws of the wicked
And snatched the prey from his teeth.

¹⁸ "Then I ^(F1)thought, 'I shall die ^(F2)in my nest,
And I shall multiply my days as the sand.

¹⁹ 'My ^(C1)root is spread out to the waters,
And ^(C2)dew lies all night on my branch.

²⁰ 'My glory is ever new with me,
And my ^(C1)bow is renewed in my hand.'

²¹ "To me ^(C1)they listened and waited,
And kept silent for my counsel.

²² "After my words they did not ^(C1)speak again,
And ^(C2)my speech dropped on them.

²³ "They waited for me as for the rain,
And opened their mouth as for the spring rain.

²⁴ "I smiled on them when they did not believe,
And the light of my face they did not cast down.

²⁵ "I chose a way for them and sat as ^(C1)chief,
And dwelt as a king among the troops,
As one who ^(C2)comforted the mourners.