Job's summary defense
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And Job continued his discourse:
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“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
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when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,
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when I was in my prime,(a) when the friendship of God rested on my tent,
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when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
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when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
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When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
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the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.
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The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
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The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
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For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,
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because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
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The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
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I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.
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I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame.
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I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.
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I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
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So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.
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My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.
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My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’
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Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel.
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After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.
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They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
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If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.
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I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.
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