Job 29:4-16

4just as I was in my most productive time, when God’s intimate friendship was experienced in my tent,

5when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me;

6when my steps were bathed with butter and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil!

7When I went out to the city gate and secured my seat in the public square,

8the young men would see me and step aside, and the old men would get up and remain standing;

9the chief men refrained from talking and covered their mouths with their hands;

10the voices of the nobles fell silent, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

11“As soon as the ear heard these things, it blessed me, and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,

12for I rescued the poor who cried out for help, and the orphan who had no one to assist him;

13the blessing of the dying man descended on me, and I made the widow’s heart rejoice;

14I put on righteousness and it clothed me, my just dealing was like a robe and a turban;

15I was eyes for the blind and feet for the lame;

16I was a father to the needy, and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;