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29:1  Again Job took up his discourse saying:
29:2  “O that I could be as in the months gone by, as in the days when God watched over me,
29:3  when His lamp shone above my head, when by His light I walked through darkness;
29:4  as I was in the days of my prime, when God’s intimate friendship was upon my tent,
29:5  when Shaddai was still with me, and my children surrounded me;
29:6  when my steps were bathed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil.
29:7  When I went out to the city gate, and secured my seat in the public square,
29:8  young men would see me and hide, old men would rise and stand;
29:9  princes refrained from talking and put their hand over their mouths;
29:10  the voice of the nobles was hushed and their tongue stuck to their palate.
29:11  “When the ear heard, it called me blessed, and when the eye saw me, it commended me;
29:12  for I saved the poor who cried for help, and the orphan who had no one to help him;
29:13  the blessing of the dying man came on me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
29:14  I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was as my robe and turban.
29:15  I was eyes for the blind and feet for the lame;
29:16  I was a father to the needy, and I investigated the case of one I did not know.
29:17  I broke the jaws of the unjust, and snatched the prey out of his teeth.
29:18  “Then I thought, ‘I will die in my nest, and multiply my days like the sand.
29:19  My roots reach the water, and dew lies on my branches all night.
29:20  My glory is fresh within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’
29:21  “People listened to me and waited, and kept silent for my advice.
29:22  After I had spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell on them drop by drop.
29:23  They waited for me as for the rain, and opened their mouths as for spring rain.
29:24  When I joked with them, they hardly believed it; they did not cause the light of my face to fall.
29:25  I chose their way and sat as their chief; I lived as a king among the troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.