29:1 Then Job continued ²  his speech:

29:2 “O that I could be ³  as ⁴  I was

in the months now gone, ⁵ 

in the days ⁶  when God watched ⁷  over me,

29:3 when ⁸  he caused ⁹  his lamp ¹⁰ 

to shine upon my head,

and by his light

I walked ¹¹  through darkness; ¹² 

29:4 just as I was in my most productive time, ¹³ 

when God’s intimate friendship ¹⁴  was experienced in my tent,

29:5 when the Almighty ¹⁵  was still with me

and my children were ¹⁶  around me;

29:6 when my steps ¹⁷  were bathed ¹⁸  with butter ¹⁹ 

and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil! ²⁰ 

29:7 When I went out to the city gate

and secured my seat in the public square, ²¹ 

29:8 the young men would see me and step aside, ²² 

and the old men would get up and remain standing;

29:9 the chief men refrained from talking

and covered their mouths with their hands;

29:10 the voices of the nobles fell silent, ²³ 

and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

29:11 “As soon as the ear heard these things, ²⁴  it blessed me, ²⁵ 

and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,

29:12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,

and the orphan who ²⁶  had no one to assist him;

29:13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me, ²⁷ 

and I made the widow’s heart rejoice; ²⁸ 

29:14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me, ²⁹ 

my just dealing ³⁰  was like a robe and a turban;

29:15 I was eyes for the blind

and feet for the lame;

29:16 I was a father ³¹  to the needy,

and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;

29:17 I broke the fangs ³²  of the wicked,

and made him drop ³³  his prey from his teeth.

29:18 “Then I thought, ‘I will die in my own home, ³⁴ 

my days as numerous as the grains of sand. ³⁵ 

29:19 My roots reach the water,

and the dew lies on my branches all night long.

29:20 My glory ³⁶  will always be fresh ³⁷  in me,

and my bow ever new in my hand.’

29:21 “People ³⁸  listened to me and waited silently; ³⁹ 

they kept silent for my advice.

29:22 After I had spoken, they did not respond;

my words fell on them drop by drop. ⁴⁰ 

29:23 They waited for me as people wait ⁴¹  for the rain,

and they opened their mouths ⁴² 

as for ⁴³  the spring rains.

29:24 If I smiled at them, they hardly believed it; ⁴⁴ 

and they did not cause the light of my face to darken. ⁴⁵ 

29:25 I chose ⁴⁶  the way for them ⁴⁷ 

and sat as their chief; ⁴⁸ 

I lived like a king among his troops;

I was like one who comforts mourners. ⁴⁹ 

30:1 “But now they mock me, those who are younger ⁵⁰  than I,

whose fathers I disdained too much ⁵¹ 

to put with my sheep dogs. ⁵² 

30:2 Moreover, the strength of their ⁵³  hands –

what use was it to me?

Men whose strength ⁵⁴  had perished;

30:3 gaunt ⁵⁵  with want and hunger,

they would gnaw ⁵⁶  the parched land,

in former time desolate and waste. ⁵⁷ 

30:4 By the brush ⁵⁸  they would gather ⁵⁹  herbs from the salt marshes, ⁶⁰ 

and the root of the broom tree was their food.

30:5 They were banished from the community ⁶¹  –

people ⁶²  shouted at them

like they would shout at thieves ⁶³  –

30:6 so that they had to live ⁶⁴ 

in the dry stream beds, ⁶⁵ 

in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.

30:7 They brayed ⁶⁶  like animals among the bushes

and were huddled together ⁶⁷  under the nettles.

30:8 Sons of senseless and nameless people, ⁶⁸ 

they were driven out of the land with whips. ⁶⁹ 

30:9 “And now I have become their taunt song;

I have become a byword ⁷⁰  among them.

30:10 They detest me and maintain their distance; ⁷¹ 

they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

30:11 Because God has untied ⁷²  my tent cord and afflicted me,

people throw off all restraint in my presence. ⁷³ 

30:12 On my right the young rabble ⁷⁴  rise up;

they drive me from place to place, ⁷⁵ 

and build up siege ramps ⁷⁶  against me. ⁷⁷ 

30:13 They destroy ⁷⁸  my path;

they succeed in destroying me ⁷⁹ 

without anyone assisting ⁸⁰  them.

30:14 They come in as through a wide breach;

amid the crash ⁸¹  they come rolling in. ⁸² 

30:15 Terrors are turned loose ⁸³  on me;

they drive away ⁸⁴  my honor like the wind,

and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away.

30:16 “And now my soul pours itself out within me; ⁸⁵ 

days of suffering take hold of me.

30:17 Night pierces ⁸⁶  my bones; ⁸⁷ 

my gnawing pains ⁸⁸  never cease.

30:18 With great power God ⁸⁹  grasps my clothing; ⁹⁰ 

he binds me like the collar ⁹¹  of my tunic.

30:19 He has flung me into the mud,

and I have come to resemble dust and ashes.

30:20 I cry out to you, ⁹²  but you do not answer me;

I stand up, ⁹³  and you only look at me. ⁹⁴ 

30:21 You have become cruel to me; ⁹⁵ 

with the strength of your hand you attack me. ⁹⁶ 

30:22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it; ⁹⁷ 

you toss me about ⁹⁸  in the storm. ⁹⁹ 

30:23 I know that you are bringing ¹⁰⁰  me to death,

to the meeting place for all the living.

30:24 “Surely one does not stretch out his hand

against a broken man ¹⁰¹ 

when he cries for help in his distress. ¹⁰² 

30:25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate? ¹⁰³ 

Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

30:26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came;

when I expected light, then darkness came.

30:27 My heart ¹⁰⁴  is in turmoil ¹⁰⁵  unceasingly; ¹⁰⁶ 

the days of my affliction confront me.

30:28 I go about blackened, ¹⁰⁷  but not by the sun;

in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.

30:29 I have become a brother to jackals

and a companion of ostriches. ¹⁰⁸ 

30:30 My skin has turned dark on me; ¹⁰⁹ 

my body ¹¹⁰  is hot with fever. ¹¹¹ 

30:31 My harp is used for ¹¹²  mourning

and my flute for the sound of weeping.

31:1 “I made a covenant with ¹¹³  my eyes;

how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin? ¹¹⁴ 

31:2 What then would be one’s lot from God above,

one’s heritage from the Almighty ¹¹⁵  on high?

31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

31:4 Does he not see my ways

and count all my steps?

31:5 If ¹¹⁶  I have walked in falsehood,

and if ¹¹⁷  my foot has hastened ¹¹⁸  to deceit –

31:6 let him ¹¹⁹  weigh me with honest ¹²⁰  scales;

then God will discover ¹²¹  my integrity.

31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,

if my heart has gone after my eyes, ¹²² 

or if anything ¹²³  has defiled my hands,

31:8 then let me sow ¹²⁴  and let another eat,

and let my crops ¹²⁵  be uprooted.

31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, ¹²⁶ 

31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone ¹²⁷  for another man,

and may other men have sexual relations with her. ¹²⁸ 

31:11 For I would have committed ¹²⁹  a shameful act, ¹³⁰ 

an iniquity to be judged. ¹³¹ 

31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction, ¹³² 

and it would uproot ¹³³  all my harvest.

31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants

or my female servants

when they disputed ¹³⁴  with me,

31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; ¹³⁵ 

when he intervenes, ¹³⁶ 

how will I respond to him?

31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? ¹³⁷ 

Did not the same one form us in the womb?

31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, ¹³⁸ 

or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,

and did not share any of it with orphans ¹³⁹  –

31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan ¹⁴⁰  like a father,

and from my mother’s womb ¹⁴¹ 

I guided the widow! ¹⁴² 

31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor man without a coat,

31:20 whose heart did not bless me ¹⁴³ 

as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, ¹⁴⁴ 

31:21 if I have raised my hand ¹⁴⁵  to vote against the orphan,

when I saw my support in the court, ¹⁴⁶ 

31:22 then ¹⁴⁷  let my arm fall from the shoulder, ¹⁴⁸ 

let my arm be broken off at the socket. ¹⁴⁹ 

31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me, ¹⁵⁰ 

and by reason of his majesty ¹⁵¹  I was powerless.

31:24 “If I have put my confidence in gold

or said to pure gold,

‘You are my security!’

31:25 if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth,

or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,

31:26 if I looked at the sun ¹⁵²  when it was shining,

and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,

and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth, ¹⁵³ 

31:28 then this ¹⁵⁴  also would be iniquity to be judged, ¹⁵⁵ 

for I would have been false ¹⁵⁶  to God above.

31:29 If ¹⁵⁷  I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy ¹⁵⁸ 

or exulted ¹⁵⁹  because calamity ¹⁶⁰  found him –

31:30 I ¹⁶¹  have not even permitted my mouth ¹⁶²  to sin

by asking ¹⁶³  for his life through a curse –

31:31 if ¹⁶⁴  the members of my household ¹⁶⁵  have never said, ¹⁶⁶ 

‘If only there were ¹⁶⁷  someone

who has not been satisfied from Job’s ¹⁶⁸  meat!’ –

31:32 But ¹⁶⁹  no stranger had to spend the night outside,

for I opened my doors to the traveler ¹⁷⁰  –

31:33 if ¹⁷¹  I have covered my transgressions as men do, ¹⁷² 

by hiding ¹⁷³  iniquity in my heart, ¹⁷⁴ 

31:34 because I was terrified ¹⁷⁵  of the great multitude, ¹⁷⁶ 

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I remained silent

and would not go outdoors – ¹⁷⁷ 

31:35 “If only I had ¹⁷⁸  someone to hear me!

Here is my signature – ¹⁷⁹ 

let the Almighty answer me!

If only I had an indictment ¹⁸⁰ 

that my accuser had written. ¹⁸¹ 

31:36 Surely ¹⁸²  I would wear it proudly ¹⁸³  on my shoulder,

I would bind ¹⁸⁴  it on me like a crown;

31:37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

31:38 “If my land cried out against me ¹⁸⁶ 

and all its furrows wept together,

31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying, ¹⁸⁷ 

or caused the death ¹⁸⁸  of its owners, ¹⁸⁹ 

31:40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,

and in place of barley, weeds!” ¹⁹⁰ 

The words of Job are ended.