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Job 29 :: New International Version (NIV)

Job’s Final Defense

Job 29:1Job continued his discourse:
Job 29:2“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
Job 29:3when his lamp shone on my head and by his light I walked through darkness!
Job 29:4Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house,
Job 29:5when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
Job 29:6when my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.
Job 29:7“When I went to the gate of the city and took my seat in the public square,
Job 29:8the young men saw me and stepped aside and the old men rose to their feet;
Job 29:9the chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands;
Job 29:10the voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
Job 29:11Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me,
Job 29:12because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist them.
Job 29:13The one who was dying blessed me; I made the widow’s heart sing.
Job 29:14I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban.
Job 29:15I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.
Job 29:16I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger.
Job 29:17I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.
Job 29:18“I thought, ‘I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
Job 29:19My roots will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches.
Job 29:20My glory will not fade; the bow will be ever new in my hand.’
Job 29:21“People listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel.
Job 29:22After I had spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell gently on their ears.
Job 29:23They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain.
Job 29:24When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them.[fn]
Job 29:25I chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I dwelt as a king among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.
NIV Footnotes
The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
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Job Chapter 29 — Additional Translations: