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