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29:1  Job took up his theme again and said:
29:2  Oh, that I were as in the months past, as in the days when God watched over me:
29:3  While he kept his lamp shining above my head, and by his light I walked through darkness;
29:4  As I was in my flourishing days, when God sheltered my tent;
29:5  When the Almighty was still with me, and my children were round about me;
29:6  When my footsteps were bathed in cream, and the rock flowed with streams of oil.
29:7  Whenever I went out to the gate of the city and took my seat in the square,
29:8  The young men saw me and withdrew, and the elders rose up and stood;
29:9  Officials refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands;
29:10  The voice of the princes was silenced, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
29:11  The ear that heard blessed me; the eye that saw acclaimed me.
29:12  For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted;
29:13  The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful.
29:14  I wore my righteousness like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban.
29:15  I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I.
29:16  I was a father to the poor; the complaint of the stranger I pursued,
29:17  And I broke the jaws of the wicked man; from his teeth I forced the prey.
29:18  I said: “In my own nest I shall grow old; I shall multiply years like the phoenix.
29:19  My root is spread out to the waters; the dew rests by night on my branches.
29:20  My glory is fresh within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand!”
29:21  For me they listened and waited; they were silent for my counsel.
29:22  Once I spoke, they said no more, but received my pronouncement drop by drop.
29:23  They waited for me as for the rain; they drank in my words like the spring rains.
29:24  When I smiled on them they could not believe it; they would not let the light of my face be dimmed.
29:25  I decided their course and sat at their head, I lived like a king among the troops, like one who comforts mourners.