Bible Thylo

JOB29 800: He who heard me called me blessed:

Job continued his poem and said: Oh, that I could return to the months of old, to the days when God protected me, when he set his lamp upon my head, and his light led me in the darkness! Oh, that I could return to my autumn days, when God surrounded my tent, when the Almighty was still with me, and my children surrounded me, when my feet were bathed in milk and rivers of oil ran from the rock! When I went out to the gate overlooking the city and sat in the plaza, the young men would withdraw when they saw me, and the old men would stand up, and the nobles would stop talking and put their hands to their mouths. The voices of the leaders would fade, and their tongues would stick to the roof of their mouths. They listened to me in silence, waiting for my opinion. After I had spoken, no one made any reply. My speech fell upon them drop by drop: it was the rain they had been waiting for, the spring shower that would quench their thirst. If I smiled at them, they dared not believe it, and they welcomed any sign of benevolence. I marked out their path and went before them like a king in the midst of his troops, and I led them everywhere at will. Everyone who heard me called me blessed, and whoever saw me declared their favor. For I rescued the sighing poor and the orphan who had no support; the blessing of the unfortunate rested on me, and I gave gladness to the widow's heart. I had put on justice like a garment, and I wore my righteousness like a cloak and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was the father of the poor, and I cared for the cause of the unknown. I broke the fangs of the wicked, and from between his teeth I plucked his prey. And he said to me, "I will die an old man, my days will be as many as the grains of sand. My root reaches out toward the waters, the dew falls at night on my branches. My glory will always be shining, and my bow will be strong in my hand."