Job 29
29
Job Continues
1Job continued to speak:
2“How I wish for the months that have passed
and the days when God watched over me.
3God’s lamp shined on my head,
and I walked through darkness by his light.
4I wish for the days when I was strong,
when God’s close friendship blessed my house.
5The Almighty was still with me,
and my children were all around me.
6It was as if my path were covered with cream
and the rocks poured out olive oil for me.
7I would go to the city gate
and sit in the public square.
8When the young men saw me, they would step aside,
and the old men would stand up in respect.
9The leading men stopped speaking
and covered their mouths with their hands.
10The voices of the important men were quiet,
as if their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
11Anyone who heard me spoke well of me,
and those who saw me praised me,
12because I saved the poor who called out
and the orphan who had no one to help.
13The dying person blessed me,
and I made the widow’s heart sing.
14I put on right living as if it were clothing;
I wore fairness like a robe and a turban.
15I was eyes for the blind
and feet for the lame.
16I was like a father to needy people,
and I took the side of strangers who were in trouble.
17I broke the fangs of evil people
and snatched the captives from their teeth.
18“I thought, ‘I will live for as many days as there are grains of sand,
and I will die in my own house.
19My roots will reach down to the water.
The dew will lie on the branches all night.
20New honors will come to me continually,
and I will always have great strength.’
21“People listened to me carefully
and waited quietly for my advice.
22After I finished speaking, they spoke no more.
My words fell very gently on their ears.
23They waited for me as they would for rain
and drank in my words like spring rain.
24I smiled at them when they doubted,
and my approval was important to them.
25I chose the way for them and was their leader.
I lived like a king among his army,
like a person who comforts sad people.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.