Job 29

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Continuing his discourse, Job reminisces about his past months of prosperity when God watched over him, his children surrounded him, and his tent enjoyed divine friendship. He recalls sitting at the city gate where young men withdrew, elders rose, and princes fell silent out of respect for his prominent status in the community. Job describes his active role in administering justice, noting that he rescued the poor, aided the fatherless, supported widows, and defended the needy and strangers against the unjust. Confident in his enduring security, he once anticipated living a long life with his influence and honor perpetually renewed like a tree by the water. He concludes by remembering how people eagerly listened to his counsel, waiting for his words as for rain while he presided among them as a leader and a comforter.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹And Job continued his discourse: ²“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me, ³when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness, ⁴when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent, ⁵when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me, ⁶when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil! ⁷When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square, ⁸the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet. ⁹The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands. ¹⁰The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths. ¹¹For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me, ¹²because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper. ¹³The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy. ¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban. ¹⁵I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame. ¹⁶I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger. ¹⁷I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth. ¹⁸So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand. ¹⁹My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches. ²⁰My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’ ²¹Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel. ²²After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew. ²³They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers. ²⁴If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious. ²⁵I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.