Job’s Righteousness and Esteem in the City Gate

Job 29:7-17

When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,

the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.

The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.

The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,

because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.

The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.

I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame.

I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.