Job 29:11–20

¹¹For those who heard me called me blessed,

and those who saw me commended me,

¹²because I rescued the poor who cried out

and the fatherless who had no helper.

¹³The dying man blessed me,

and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;

justice was my robe and my turban.

¹⁵I served as eyes to the blind

and as feet to the lame.

¹⁶I was a father to the needy,

and I took up the case of the stranger.

¹⁷I shattered the fangs of the unjust

and snatched the prey from his teeth.

¹⁸So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest

and multiply my days as the sand.

¹⁹My roots will spread out to the waters,

and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.

²⁰My glory is ever new within me,

and my bow is renewed in my hand.’