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28.26
JOB
- And a way for the storm of thunders;
- 27Then did He see it, and declare it;
- He established it, yea, and searched it out.
- 28And unto man He said:
- 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
- And to depart from evil is understanding.'
29 And Job again took up his parable, and said:
- 2Oh that I were as in the months of old,
- As in the days when God watched over me;
- 3When His lamp shined above my head,
- And by His light I walked through darkness;
- 4As I was in the days of my youth,
- When the converse of God was upon my tent;
- 5When the Almighty was yet with me,
- And my children were about me;
- 6When my steps were washed with butter,
- And the rock poured me out rivers of oil!
- 7When I went forth to the gate unto the city,
- When I prepared my seat in the broad place,
- 8The young men saw me and hid themselves,
- And the aged rose up and stood;
- 9The princes refrained talking,
- And laid their hand on their mouth;
- 10The voice of the nobles was hushed,
- And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
- 11For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me,
- And when the eye saw me, it gave witness unto me;
- 12Because I delivered the poor that cried,
- The fatherless also, that had none to help him.
- 13The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me;
- And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
- 14I put on righteousness, and it clothed itself with me;
- My justice was as a robe and a diadem.
- 15I was eyes to the blind,
- And feet was I to the lame.
- 16I was a father to the needy;
- And the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.
- 17And I broke the jaws of the unrighteous,
- And plucked the prey out of his teeth.
- 18Then I said: 'I shall die with my nest,
- And I shall multiply my days as the phoenix;
- 19My root shall be spread out to the waters,
- And the dew shall lie all night upon my branch;
- 20My glory shall be fresh in me,
- And my bow shall be renewed in my hand.'
- 21Unto me men gave ear, and waited,
- And kept silence for my counsel.
- 22After my words they spoke not again;
- And my speech dropped upon them.
- 23And they waited for me as for the rain;
- And they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
- 24If I laughed on them, they believed it not;
- And the light of my countenance they cast not down.
- 25I chose out their way, and sat as chief,
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