Chapters
JOB (42 chapters)
JOB 29
1
Job spoke again,
2
“I wish/desire that I could be like I was previously, during the years when God took care of me.
3
During those years, it was as though God’s lamp [MET] shone on me and gave me light while I walked in the darkness.
4
At that time I was young and strong, and because God was my friend, he protected [PRS] my tent.
5
Almighty God was with me during those years when all my children were around me.
6
My herds provided me with plenty of milk, and streams of oil flowed from the rock where my olives were pressed.
7
“Whenever I went to the place where the elders gathered at the city gate, I sat down with them,
8
and when the young men saw me, they stepped aside respectfully, and the old men also stood respectfully.
9
The leaders of the people stopped talking [DOU],
10
and even the most important men became quiet and ceased talking [MTY] in order to hear me speak to them.
11
When they [SYN] all heard what I told them, they said good things about me. When they [SYN] saw me (OR, what I had done), they commended me,
12
because I had helped the poor people when they cried out for help and I aided/helped orphans who had no one else to help them.
13
Those who were suffering and about to die praised [PRS] me, and I caused widows [SYN] to sing joyfully, because of my helping them.
14
I always acted justly; my continually doing that was like [MET] a robe that I wore and a turban that was wrapped around my head.
15
It was as though [MET] I was eyes for blind people and feet for people who were lame.
16
I was like [MET] a father to poor people, and in courts I defended those who were strangers.
17
My causing wicked people to be unable to continue oppressing others was like [MET] breaking the fangs of fierce wild animals and forcing them to drop from their teeth/mouths the animals that they had caught/seized.
18
“At that time I thought, ‘Surely I will live securely, until I am very old [SIM], and I will die at home with my family.’
19
I was like a tree [MET] whose roots reach down into the water and whose branches become wet with dew each night.
20
People always honored me, and I was always strong like [MET] a new bow.
21
“When I spoke, people waited to hear what I would say and remained silent until I advised them what they should do.
22
After I finished speaking, they did not say any more; it was as though [MET] my words fell on their ears like refreshing drops of rain.
23
They waited for me to speak like they wait for rain; they appreciated what I said like [MET] farmers appreciate the final rain in the spring before the dry season.
24
When they were discouraged, I smiled at them to encourage them; they became encouraged when they saw that I approved of them.
25
I was their leader, and I decided what things would be good for them to do; I was among them like [SIM] a king who is among his troops; I was like someone who comforts others who are mourning.”