[1] Job continued to speak: [2] "How I wish for the months that have passed and the days when God watched over me. [3] God's lamp shined on my head, and I walked through darkness by his light. [4] I wish for the days when I was strong, when God's close friendship blessed my house. [5] The Almighty was still with me, and my children were all around me. [6] It was as if my path were covered with cream and the rocks poured out olive oil for me. [7] I would go to the city gate and sit in the public square. [8] When the young men saw me, they would step aside, and the old men would stand up in respect. [9] The leading men stopped speaking and covered their mouths with their hands. [10] The voices of the important men were quiet, as if their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. [11] Anyone who heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me praised me, [12] because I saved the poor who called out and the orphan who had no one to help. [13] The dying person blessed me, and I made the widow's heart sing. [14] I put on right living as if it were clothing; I wore fairness like a robe and a turban. [15] I was eyes for the blind and feet for the lame. [16] I was like a father to needy people, and I took the side of strangers who were in trouble. [17] I 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. [19] My roots will reach down to the water. The dew will lie on the branches all night. [20] New 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. [22] After I finished speaking, they spoke no more. My words fell very gently on their ears. [23] They waited for me as they would for rain and drank in my words like spring rain. [24] I smiled at them when they doubted, and my approval was important to them. [25] I chose the way for them and was their leader. I lived like a king among his army, like a person who comforts sad people.
