And Job again took up his parable, and said,
Oh that I were as in the months of old,
As in the days when God watched over me;
When his lamp shined {Or, above}upon my head,
And by his light I walked through darkness;
As I was in {Hebrew: my days of autumn.}the ripeness of my days,
When the {Or, counsel}friendship of God was upon my tent;
When the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were about me;
When my steps were washed with butter,
And the rock poured me out streams of oil!
When I went forth to the gate unto the city,
When I prepared my seat in the {Or, broad place}street,
The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the aged rose up and stood;
The princes refrained from talking,
And laid their hand on their mouth;
The voice of the nobels was {Hebrew: hid.}hushed,
And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me;
And when the eye saw me, it gave witness unto me:
Because I delivered the poor that cried,
The fatherless also, {Or, and him that had &c.}that had none to help him.
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me;
And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it {Or, clothed itself with me}clothed me:
My justice was as a robe and a {Or, turban.}diadem.
I was eyes to the blind,
And feet was I to the lame.
I was a father to the needy:
And {Or, the cause which i knew not}the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.
And I brake the {Hebrew: great teeth.}jaws of the unrighteous,
And plucked the prey out of his teeth.
Then I said, I shall die {Or, beside Hebrew: with.}in my nest,
And I shall multiply my days as the sand:
My root is {Hebrew: opened.}spread out {Or, by}to the waters,
And the dew lieth all night upon my branch;
My glory is fresh in me,
And my bow is renewed in my hand.
Unto me men gave ear, and waited,
And kept silence for my counsel.
After my words they spake not again;
And my speech distilled upon them.
And they waited for me as for the rain;
And they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
I smiled on them, when they had no confidence;
And the light of my countenance they cast not down.
I chose out their way, and sat as chief,
And dwelt as a king in the army,
As one that comforteth the mourners.
Querverweise zu Hiob 29,6 Hiob 29,6
He shall not look upon the rivers,The flowing streams of honey and butter.
Binding his foal unto the vine,And his ass's colt unto the choice vine;He hath washed his garments in wine,And his vesture in the blood of grapes:
He made him ride on the high places of the earth,And he did eat the increase of the field;And he made him to suck honey out of the rock,And oil out of the flinty rock;
And of Asher he said,Blessed be Asher {Or, above sons}with children;Let him be acceptable unto his brethren,And let him dip his foot in oil.
He would feed them also with the {Hebrew: fat of wheat.}finest of the wheat;And with honey out of the rock would I satisfy thee.