Job 29 — T4T
Job’s final speech
29Verse 1Job spoke again,Verse 2“I wish/desire that I could be like I was previously,during the years when God took care of me.Verse 3During those years, it was as though God’s lamp [MET] shone on meand gave me light while I walked in the darkness.Verse 4At that time I was young and strong,and because God was my friend, he protected [PRS] my tent.Verse 5Almighty God was with me during those yearswhen all my children were around me.Verse 6My herds provided me with plenty of milk,and streams of oil flowed from the rock where my olives were pressed.Verse 7“Whenever I went to the place where the elders gathered at the city gate,I sat down with them,Verse 8and when the young men saw me, they stepped aside respectfully,and the old men also stood respectfully.Verse 9The leaders of the people stopped talking [DOU],Verse 10and even the most important men became quietand ceased talking [MTY] in order to hear me speak to them.Verse 11When 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,
Verse 12because I had helped the poor people when they cried out for helpand I aided/helped orphans who had no one else to help them.Verse 13Those who were suffering and about to die praised [PRS] me,and I caused widows [SYN] to sing joyfully, because of my helping them.Verse 14I always acted justly;my continually doing that was like [MET] a robe that I wore and a turban that was wrapped around my head.Verse 15It was as though [MET] I was eyes for blind peopleand feet for people who were lame.Verse 16I was like [MET] a father to poor people,and in courts I defended those who were strangers.Verse 17My causing wicked people to be unable to continue oppressing others was like [MET] breaking the fangs of fierce wild animalsand forcing them to drop from their teeth/mouths the animals that they had caught/seized.Verse 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.’Verse 19I was like a tree [MET] whose roots reach down into the waterand whose branches become wet with dew each night.Verse 20People always honored me,and I was always strong like [MET] a new bow.Verse 21“When I spoke, people waited to hear what I would sayand remained silent until I advised them what they should do.Verse 22After 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.Verse 23They 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.Verse 24When they were discouraged, I smiled at them to encourage them;they became encouraged when they saw that I approved of them.Verse 25I 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.”