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29:1  Then Job continued further with his solemn discourse, as he said:
29:2  “Oh, how I yearn for the months long gone and for those days when God kept watch over me,
29:3  when his lamp continued to shine above my head and by his light I could walk through darkness.
29:4  “In those days I was in my prime, and God protected my tent.
29:5  The Almighty was ever present at my side, and my children were around me.
29:6  My feet were bathed in milk, and the rocks poured forth streams of oil for me.
29:7  “When I would go forth to the gate of the city and take my seat in the public square,
29:8  the young men would see me and withdraw, and the old men would rise to their feet.
29:9  The nobles would refrain from speaking and would place their hands over their mouths.
29:10  The voices of the princes were silenced, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
29:11  “Whoever heard my words spoke favorably of me, and those who saw me testified to my merit,
29:12  because I delivered the poor who appealed for help and the orphan who had no one to protect him.
29:13  The blessing of the wretched was given to me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
29:14  “I put on righteousness as my garment; justice was my cloak and my turban.
29:15  I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.
29:16  I was a father to the needy, and I defended the rights of the stranger.
29:17  I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched their prey from their teeth.
29:18  “Then I thought, ‘I will die in honor after having multiplied my days like grains of sand,
29:19  with my roots spreading out to the waters and the dew lying on my branches throughout the night.
29:20  My glory will be forever new and the bow in my hand forever strong.’
29:21  “Men waited expectantly to hear my words and listened in silence to my counsel.
29:22  Once I had spoken, no one spoke further but simply let my thoughts penetrate their minds.
29:23  They waited for me as for the rain, with open mouths as though to drink in a spring shower.
29:24  “When I smiled at them, they were filled with gratitude, and they were clearly strengthened because of the way I treated them.
29:25  As their leader I told them which course to follow, and I lived like a king among his troops, or as a comforter of mourners.