Job’s Former Blessings 1 CPDV Job also added to this, using figures of speech, and he said: BSB BSB: And Job continued his discourse:
2 CPDV Who will grant to me that I might be as I was in former months, according to the days when God kept watch over me? BSB BSB: “How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
3 CPDV At that time, his lamp shined over my head, and by his light, I walked through the darkness. BSB BSB: when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,
4 CPDV I was then just as in the days of my youth, when God was privately in my tabernacle. BSB BSB: when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent,
5 CPDV At that time, the Almighty was with me and my children surrounded me. BSB BSB: when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
6 CPDV Then, I washed my feet with butter, and a boulder poured out rivers of oil for me. BSB BSB: when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
7 CPDV When I went to the gate of the city, or to the main street, they prepared a chair for me. BSB BSB: When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
8 CPDV The youths saw me and hid themselves, and the elders, rising up, remained standing. BSB BSB: the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.
9 CPDV The leaders stopped talking, and they placed a finder over their mouth. BSB BSB: The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
10 CPDV The commanders subdued their voice, and their tongue adhered to their throat. BSB BSB: The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
11 CPDV The ear that heard me, blessed me, and the eye that saw me, gave testimony for me. BSB BSB: For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,
12 CPDV This was because I had freed the poor, who cried out, and the orphan, who had no helper. BSB BSB: because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
13 CPDV The blessing of him who would have been destroyed came upon me, and I consoled the heart of the widow. BSB BSB: The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
14 CPDV I put on justice, and I clothed myself with my judgment, like a robe and a diadem. BSB BSB: I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.
15 CPDV I was an eye for the blind and a foot for the lame. BSB BSB: I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame.
16 CPDV I was the father of the poor; and if I lacked knowledge about any case, I investigated very diligently. BSB BSB: I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.
17 CPDV I crushed the jaws of the impious, and I took away prey from his teeth. BSB BSB: I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
18 CPDV And I said, “I will die in my little nest, and like a palm tree, I will multiply my days. BSB BSB: So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.
19 CPDV My root has been spread beside the waters, and the dew will remain with my harvest. BSB BSB: My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.
20 CPDV My glory will always be restored, and my bow will be restored to my hand.” BSB BSB: My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’
21 CPDV Those who heard me, expected vindication, and they listened closely in silence to my counsel. BSB BSB: Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel.
22 CPDV To my words, they dared to add nothing, and my eloquence poured over them. BSB BSB: After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.
23 CPDV They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for belated rains. BSB BSB: They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
24 CPDV If I had ever laughed at them, they would not have believed it, and the light of my face was not cast down towards the ground. BSB BSB: If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.
25 CPDV If I wished to go to them, I sat down first, and, though I sat like a king surrounded by an army, yet I was a comforter to those who mourned. BSB BSB: I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.