1 Job further continued his discourse, and said:
2
"Oh, that I were as in months a past,
As in the days when God b watched over me;
3
c When His lamp shone upon my head,
And when by His light I walked through darkness;
4
Just as I was in the days of my prime,
When d the friendly counsel of God was over my tent;
5
When the Almighty was yet with me,
When my children were around me;
6
When e my steps were bathed with 1 cream,
And f the rock poured out rivers of oil for me!
7
"When I went out to the gate by the city,
When I took my seat in the open square,
8
The young men saw me and hid,
And the aged arose and stood;
9
The princes refrained from talking,
And g put their hand on their mouth;
10
The voice of nobles was hushed,
And their h tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
11
When the ear heard, then it blessed me,
And when the eye saw, then it approved me;
12
Because i I delivered the poor who cried out,
The fatherless and the one who had no helper.
13
The blessing of a perishing man came upon me,
And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
14
j I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a turban.
15
I was k eyes to the blind,
And I was feet to the lame.
16
I was a father to the poor,
And l I searched out the case that I did not know.
17
I broke m the fangs of the wicked,
And plucked the victim from his teeth.
18
"Then I said, n 'I shall die in my nest,
And multiply my days as the sand.
19
o My root is spread out p to the waters,
And the dew lies all night on my branch.
20
My glory is fresh within me,
And my q bow is renewed in my hand.'
21
" Men listened to me and waited,
And kept silence for my counsel.
22
After my words they did not speak again,
And my speech settled on them as dew.
23
They waited for me as for the rain,
And they opened their mouth wide as for r the spring rain.
24
If I mocked at them, they did not believe it,
And the light of my countenance they did not cast down.
25
I chose the way for them, and sat as chief;
So I dwelt as a king in the army,
As one who comforts mourners.
1
"But now they mock at me, men 2 younger than I,
Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.
2
Indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me?
Their vigor has perished.
3
They are gaunt from want and famine,
Fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste,
4
Who pluck 3 mallow by the bushes,
And broom tree roots for their food.
5
They were driven out from among men,
They shouted at them as at a thief.
6
They had to live in the clefts of the 4 valleys,
In 5 caves of the earth and the rocks.
7
Among the bushes they brayed,
Under the nettles they nestled.
8
They were sons of fools,
Yes, sons of vile men;
They were scourged from the land.
9
"And a now I am their taunting song;
Yes, I am their byword.
10
They abhor me, they keep far from me;
They do not hesitate b to spit in my face.
11
Because c He has loosed 6 my bowstring and afflicted me,
They have cast off restraint before me.
12
At my right hand the rabble arises;
They push away my feet,
And d they raise against me their ways of destruction.
13
They break up my path,
They promote my calamity;
They have no helper.
14
They come as broad breakers;
Under the ruinous storm they roll along.
15
Terrors are turned upon me;
They pursue my honor as the wind,
And my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
16
"And e now my soul is f poured out because of my plight;
The days of affliction take hold of me.
17
My bones are pierced in me at night,
And my gnawing pains take no rest.
18
By great force my garment is disfigured;
It binds me about as the collar of my coat.
19
He has cast me into the mire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.
20
"I g cry out to You, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You regard me.
21
But You have become cruel to me;
With the strength of Your hand You h oppose me.
22
You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it;
You spoil my success.
23
For I know that You will bring me to death,
And to the house i appointed for all living.
24
"Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins,
If they cry out when He destroys it.
25
j Have I not wept for him who was in trouble?
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
26
k But when I looked for good, evil came to me;
And when I waited for light, then came darkness.
27
7 My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest;
Days of affliction confront me.
28
l I go about mourning, but not in the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.
29
m I am a brother of jackals,
And a companion of ostriches.
30
n My skin grows black and falls from me;
o My bones burn with fever.
31
My harp is turned to mourning,
And my flute to the voice of those who weep.