Open English Translation JOB Chapter 29

29 Then Iyyov continued speaking:

2 How I wish for my life in the months of the past,

≈in the days when God watched over me.

3 When his lamp shone over my head.

≈When I walked in the darkness by his light.

4 I was still in my prime in those days,

when God’s friendship could be noticed in my home.

5 When the provider was still with me.

≈When my children were all around me.

6 When my path was greased with butter,

≈and the rock poured streams of olive oil out for me.

7 When I went to the gathering of the city elders at the city gate.

≈When I took my seat in the public square.

8 Young men saw me and got out of the way,

≈and the old people got up and remained standing.

9 The leaders would stop their conversations,

and put their hands over their mouths.

10 The voices of the nobles were hushed,

≈and their tongues stayed on the roofs of their mouths.

11 Those who listened to me commended me,

≈and those who saw me approved of me,

12 because I rescued the poor who cried out,

≈and the fatherless who had no one to help them.

13 Those who were close to dying gave me their blessing,

≈and widows were very pleased that I’d helped them.

14 I put on obedience like a cloak.

≈My justice was like a robe and a turban.

15 I was the eyes for the blind,

≈and the feet for the lame.

16 I was a father for the needy,

≈and I helped strangers present their cases.

17 I broke the jaws[fn] of unjust people,

so they had to drop their prey from their teeth.

18 I had thought that I would die in my own home,

having multiplied my days like the sand.

19 My roots are spread out to reach water,

≈and the dew will lie on my branches overnight.

20 People were always honouring me,

and the bow in my hand will always seem new.

21 They listened to me and they waited,

≈and they kept silent ready to hear my advice.

22 After my talk, they still didn’t speak,

because my words slowly sunk into them like the dew.

23 They waited for me like a farmer waits for rain,

≈and they opened their mouths wide like soil expecting the wet weather.

24 I smiled at them even when they didn’t believe me,

and they didn’t cause the delight on my face to falter.

25 I chose their path and I sat as a chief,

and I lived like a king with his troops,

like when someone comforts those who’re mourning.