Job 29–30

29Job continued to speak. He said,

²“How I long for the good old days!

That’s when God watched over me.

³The light of his lamp shone on me.

I walked through darkness by his light.

⁴Those were the best days of my life.

That’s when God’s friendship blessed my house.

⁵The Mighty One was still with me.

My children were all around me.

⁶The path in front of me was like sweet cream.

It was as if the rock poured out olive oil for me.

⁷“In those days I went to the city gate.

I took my seat as a member of the council.

⁸Young people who saw me stepped to one side.

Old people stood up as I approached.

⁹The leaders stopped speaking.

They covered their mouths with their hands.

¹⁰The voices of the nobles became quiet.

Their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

¹¹Everyone who heard me said good things about me.

Those who saw me honored me.

¹²That’s because I saved poor people who cried out for help.

I saved helpless children whose fathers had died.

¹³Those who were dying gave me their blessing.

I made the hearts of widows sing.

¹⁴I put on a godly life as if it were my clothes.

Fairness was my robe and my turban.

¹⁵I was like eyes for those who were blind.

I was like feet for those who couldn’t walk.

¹⁶I was like a father to needy people.

I stood up for strangers in court.

¹⁷Sinners are like animals that have powerful teeth.

But I took from their mouths the people they had caught.

¹⁸“I thought, ‘I’ll die in my own house.

The days of my life will be as many as the grains of sand.

¹⁹My roots will reach down to the water.

The dew will lie all night on my branches.

²⁰I will remain healthy and strong.

My bow will stay as good as new in my hand.’

²¹“People wanted to hear what I had to say.

They waited silently for the advice I gave them.

²²After I had spoken, they didn’t speak anymore.

My words fell gently on their ears.

²³They waited for me just as they would wait for showers.

They drank my words just as they would drink the spring rain.

²⁴When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it.

The light of my face lifted their spirits.

²⁵I chose the way they should go. I sat as their chief.

I lived as a king lives among his troops.

I was like someone who comforts those who are sad.

30“But now those who are younger than I am make fun of me.

I wouldn’t put even their parents with my sheep dogs!

²Their strong hands couldn’t give me any help.

That’s because their strength was gone.

³They were weak because they were needy and hungry.

They wandered through dry and empty deserts at night.

⁴Among the bushes they gathered salty plants.

They ate the roots of desert trees.

⁵They were driven away from society.

They were shouted at as if they were robbers.

⁶They were forced to live in dry stream beds.

They had to stay among rocks

and in holes in the ground.

⁷Like donkeys they cried out among the bushes.

There they crowded together and hid.

⁸They were so foolish that no one respected them.

They were driven out of the land.

⁹“Now their children laugh at me.

They make fun of me with their songs.

¹⁰They hate me. They stay away from me.

They even dare to spit in my face.

¹¹God has made my body weak.

It’s like a tent that has fallen down.

So those children do what they want to in front of me.

¹²Many people attack me on my right side.

They lay traps for my feet.

They come at me from every direction.

¹³They tear up the road I walk on.

They succeed in destroying me.

They do it without any help.

¹⁴They attack me like troops smashing through a wall.

Among the destroyed buildings they come rolling in.

¹⁵Terrors sweep over me.

My honor is driven away as if by the wind.

My safety vanishes like a cloud.

¹⁶“Now my life is slipping away.

Days of suffering grab hold of me.

¹⁷At night my bones hurt.

My gnawing pains never stop.

¹⁸God’s great power becomes like clothes to me.

He chokes me like the neck of my shirt.

¹⁹He throws me down into the mud.

I’m nothing but dust and ashes.

²⁰“God, I cry out to you. But you don’t answer me.

I stand up. But all you do is look at me.

²¹You do mean things to me.

Your mighty hand attacks me.

²²You pick me up and blow me away with the wind.

You toss me around in the storm.

²³I know that you will bring me down to death.

That’s what you have appointed for everyone.

²⁴“No one would crush people

when they cry out for help in their trouble.

²⁵Haven’t I sobbed over those who are in trouble?

Haven’t I felt sorry for poor people?

²⁶I hoped good things would happen, but something evil came.

I looked for light, but all I saw was darkness.

²⁷My insides are always churning.

Nothing but days of suffering are ahead of me.

²⁸My skin has become dark, but the sun didn’t do it.

I stand up in the community and cry out for help.

²⁹I’ve become a brother to wild dogs.

Owls are my companions.

³⁰My skin grows black and peels.

My body burns with fever.

³¹My harp is tuned to sadness.

My flute makes a sound like sobbing.