[1] And Job continued his discourse:
[2] “How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
[3] when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,
[4] when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent,
[5] when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
[6] when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
[7] When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
[8] the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.
[9] The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
[10] The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
[11] For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,
[12] because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
[13] The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
[14] I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.
[15] I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame.
[16] I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.
[17] I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
[18] So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.
[19] My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.
[20] My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’
[21] Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel.
[22] After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.
[23] They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
[24] If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.
[25] I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.