Study Desk

Job's Final Defense

Job continued his discourse:^(a)

"How I long for the months gone by,^(b) for the days when God watched over me,^(c)

when his lamp shone on my head and by his light I walked through darkness!^(d)

Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship^(e) blessed my house,^(f)

when the Almighty was still with me and my children^(g) were around me,^(h)

when my path was drenched with cream⁽ⁱ⁾ and the rock^(j) poured out for me streams of olive oil.^(k)

"When I went to the gate^(l) of the city and took my seat in the public square,

the young men saw me and stepped aside^(m) and the old men rose to their feet;⁽ⁿ⁾

the chief men refrained from speaking^(o) and covered their mouths with their hands;^(p)

the voices of the nobles were hushed,^(q) and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.^(r)

Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me,^(s)

because I rescued the poor^(t) who cried for help, and the fatherless^(u) who had none to assist them.^(v)

The one who was dying blessed me;^(w) I made the widow's^(x) heart sing.

I put on righteousness^(y) as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban.^(z)

I was eyes^(aa) to the blind and feet to the lame.^(ab)

I was a father to the needy;^(ac) I took up the case^(ad) of the stranger.^(ae)

I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims^(af) from their teeth.^(ag)

"I thought, ‘I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand.^(ah)

My roots will reach to the water,^(ai) and the dew will lie all night on my branches.^(aj)

My glory will not fade;^(ak) the bow^(al) will be ever new in my hand.'^(am)

"People listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel.^(an)

After I had spoken, they spoke no more;^(ao) my words fell gently on their ears.^(ap)

They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain.^(aq)

When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face^(ar) was precious to them.^[a](as)

I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;^(at) I dwelt as a king^(au) among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.^(av)