Job 29:1-11

Iyov went on speaking:

"I wish I were as in the old days, back in the times when God watched over me;

when his lamp shone over my head, and I walked through the dark by its light;

as I was when I was young, and God's counsel graced my tent.

Then Shaddai was still with me, my children were around me;

my steps were awash in butter, and the rocks poured out for me streams of olive oil.

I would go out to the city gate and set up my seat in the open space;

when young men saw me they would hide themselves, while the aged arose and stood;

leaders refrained from speaking -they would lay their hands on their mouths;

the voices of nobles were silenced; their tongues stuck to their palates.

Any ear that heard me blessed me, any eye that saw me gave witness to me,