1 Job further continued his discourse, and said:

2 “Oh, that I were as in months ^apast,
As in the days when God ^bwatched over me; ‡

3 ^aWhen 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 ^athe friendly counsel of God was over my tent; ‡

5 When the Almighty was yet with me,
When my children were around me;

6 When ^amy steps were bathed with cream,
And ^bthe 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 ^aput their hand on their mouth; ‡

10 The voice of nobles was hushed,
And their ^atongue 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 ^aI 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 ^aI put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a turban. ‡

15 I was ^aeyes to the blind,
And I was feet to the lame. ‡

16 I was a father to the poor,
And ^aI searched out the case that I did not know. ‡

17 I broke ^athe fangs of the wicked,
And plucked the victim from his teeth. ‡

18 “Then I said, ^a‘I shall die in my nest,
And multiply my days as the sand. ‡

19 ^aMy root is spread out ^bto the waters,
And the dew lies all night on my branch. ‡

20 My glory is fresh within me,
And my ^abow 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 ^athe 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.