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¹ Job further continued his discourse, and said: ² "Oh, that I were as in months past, As in the days when God watched over me; ³ When His lamp shone upon my head, And when by His light I walked through darkness; ⁴ Just as I was in the days of my prime, When the friendly counsel of God was over my tent; ⁵ When the Almighty was yet with me, When my children were around me; ⁶ When my steps were bathed with cream, [fn] And the rock poured out rivers of oil for me!

⁷ "When I went out to the gate by the city, When I took my seat in the open square, ⁸ The young men saw me and hid, And the aged arose and stood; ⁹ The princes refrained from talking, And put their hand on their mouth; ¹⁰ The voice of nobles was hushed, And their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth. ¹¹ When the ear heard, then it blessed me, And when the eye saw, then it approved me; ¹² Because I delivered the poor who cried out, The fatherless and the one who had no helper. ¹³ The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. ¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban. ¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind, And I was feet to the lame. ¹⁶ I was a father to the poor, And I searched out the case that I did not know. ¹⁷ I broke the fangs of the wicked, And plucked the victim from his teeth.

¹⁸ "Then I said, "I shall die in my nest, And multiply my days as the sand. ¹⁹ My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lies all night on my branch. ²⁰ My glory is fresh within me, And my bow is renewed in my hand.' ²¹ "Men listened to me and waited, And kept silence for my counsel. ²² After my words they did not speak again, And my speech settled on them as dew. ²³ They waited for me as for the rain, And they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain. ²⁴ If I mocked at them, they did not believe it, And the light of my countenance they did not cast down. ²⁵ I chose the way for them, and sat as chief; So I dwelt as a king in the army, As one who comforts mourners.