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Job Continues His Speech

29 Job continued to speak:

“I wish my life could be the same as it was a few months ago,
    when God watched over me and cared for me.
God’s light shined above me,
    so I could walk through the darkness.
I wish for the days when I was successful,
    when I enjoyed God’s friendship and blessing in my home.
God All-Powerful was still with me then,
    and my children were all around me.
Life was so good that I washed my feet in cream
    and had plenty of the finest oils.[a]

“Those were the days when I went to the city gate
    and sat in the public meeting of the elders.
When the young men saw me coming, they stepped out of my way.
    And the old men stood up to show they respected me.
The leaders of the people stopped talking
    and put their hands over their mouths.
10 Even the most important leaders were quiet,
    as if their tongues were stuck to the roof of their mouths.
11 All who heard me said good things about me.
    Those who saw what I did praised me,
12 because I helped the poor when they cried out.
    I helped the orphans who had no one to care for them.
13 People who were dying asked God to bless me.
    My help brought joy to widows in need.
14 Right living was my clothing.
    Fairness was my robe and turban.
15 I was like eyes for the blind,
    like feet for the crippled.
16 I was like a father to the poor.
    I helped people I didn’t even know win their case in court.
17 I stopped evil people from abusing their power
    and saved innocent people from them.[b]

18 “I always thought I would live a long life,
    growing old with my family around me.
19 I was like a healthy plant with roots that have plenty of water
    and branches that are wet with dew.
20 I thought each new day would bring more honor
    and be full of new possibilities.[c]

21 “In the past people listened to me.
    They waited quietly for my advice.
22 When I finished speaking, they had nothing more to say.
    My words fell gently on their ears.
23 They waited for my words as they would for rain.
    They drank them in like rain in the springtime.
24 I smiled at them, and they could hardly believe it.
    My smile made them feel better.
25 I was their leader and made decisions about their future.
    I was like a king among his troops, comforting those who were sad.

30 “But now men younger than I make fun of me—
    men whose fathers were too worthless to put with my sheep dogs.
Their fathers are still too weak to be of any use to me.
    All their strength is gone.
They are starving with nothing to eat,
    so they chew on the dry, ruined land.
They pull up salt plants in the desert
    and eat the roots from the broom tree.
They are forced away from other people,
    who shout at them as if they were thieves.
They must live in the dry riverbeds,
    hillside caves, and holes in the ground.
They howl in the bushes
    and huddle together under thornbushes.
They are a bunch of worthless people without names,
    who were forced to leave their country.

“Now their sons sing songs to make fun of me.
    My name has become a bad word to them.
10 They hate me and stay far away from me,
    except when they come to spit in my face!
11 God has taken the string from my bow and made me weak,
    so they feel free to do whatever they want to me.
12 They attack me on my right side.
    They knock my feet out from under me.
    They build ramps to attack and destroy me like a city.
13 They guard the road so that I cannot escape.
    They succeed in destroying me, without help from anyone.
14 They break a hole in the wall and come rushing through it,
    and the crashing rocks fall on me.
15 I am shaking with fear.
    They chased my honor away like dust in the wind.
    My safety disappears like a cloud.

16 “Now my life is almost gone, and soon I will die.
    Days of suffering have grabbed me.
17 All my bones ache at night.
    Pain never stops chewing on me.
18 God grabbed the collar of my coat
    and twisted my clothes out of shape.
19 He threw me into the mud,
    and I became like dust and ashes.

20 “God, I cry out to you for help, but you don’t answer.
    I stand up and pray, but you don’t pay attention to me.
21 You have become cruel to me;
    you use your power to hurt me.
22 You let the strong wind blow me away.
    You throw me around in the storm.
23 I know you will lead me to my death,
    to that place where all the living must go.

24 “Surely no one would attack a man who is already ruined,
    when he is hurt and crying for help.
25 God, you know that I cried for those who were in trouble.
    You know that I mourned for the poor.
26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came instead.
    When I looked for light, darkness came.
27 I constantly feel upset.
    And my suffering has only just begun.
28 I am always sad and depressed, without any relief.
    I stand up in the public meeting and cry for help,
29 making sad sounds like the wild dogs,
    like the ostriches in the desert.
30 My skin is burned and peeling away.
    My body is hot with fever.
31 My harp is tuned to play songs of sorrow.
    My flute makes sad sounds like someone crying.

Footnotes

  1. Job 29:6 had plenty of the finest oils Literally, “Around the anointed rock near me were streams of oil.” This probably means Job had so much olive oil that there were streams of oil running down the altar from the part Job gave as a gift to God.
  2. Job 29:17 Literally, “I shattered the teeth of the crooked and snatched the victims from their teeth.”
  3. Job 29:20 Literally, “My glory is new with me and my bow in my hand renewed.” The words “glory” and “bow” might both refer to a rainbow—the promise of good weather after a storm. Or this might be understood as, “My soul feels new every day, my hand always strong enough to shoot a new bow.”

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