\s5
\c 29

\p
\v 1 Job spoke again and said this:
\q1
\v 2 "I wish that I could be as I was previously
\q2 during the years when God took care of me.
\q1
\v 3 During those years, it was as though God's lamp shone on me
\q2 and gave me light while I walked in the darkness.

\s5
\q1
\v 4 At that time I was young and strong,
\q2 and because God was my friend, he protected where I lived.
\q1
\v 5 Almighty God was with me during those years
\q2 when all my children were around me.
\q1
\v 6 My herds provided me with plenty of milk,
\q2 and streams of oil flowed from the rock where my servants pressed the olives.
\b

\s5
\q1
\v 7 Whenever I went to the place where the elders gathered at the city gate,
\q2 I sat down with them,
\q1
\v 8 and when the young men saw me, they stepped aside respectfully,
\q2 and the old men also stood respectfully.

\s5
\q1
\v 9 The leaders of the people used to stop talking,
\q1
\v 10 and even the most important men became quiet
\q2 and stopped talking in order to hear me speak to them.

\s5
\q1
\v 11 When they all heard what I told them,
\q2 they said good things about me.
\q1 When they saw me, they always praised me
\q1
\v 12 because I had helped those who were poor when they cried out for help,
\q2 and because I aided those who had no fathers, those who had no one else to help them.
\q1
\v 13 Those who were suffering and about to die praised me,
\q2 and I caused widows to sing joyfully, because I helped them.

\s5
\q1
\v 14 I always acted justly;
\q2 my actions were like a robe that I wore and like a turban that was wrapped around my head.
\q1
\v 15 It was as though I myself saw for blind people
\q2 and walked for people who were lame.
\q1
\v 16 I was like a father to the poor people,
\q2 and in the courts I defended those who were strangers to me.

\s5
\q1
\v 17 I made wicked people stop oppressing others; it was like someone who breaks the teeth of wild animals
\q2 and forces them to drop their victims from their teeth.
\b
\q1
\v 18 At that time I thought, 'Surely I will live in peace until I am very old,
\q2 and I will die at home with my family.
\q1
\v 19 I am like a tree whose roots reach down into the water
\q2 and whose branches become wet with dew each night.

\s5
\q1
\v 20 People always honor me,
\q2 and I am always strong like a new bow.'
\b
\q1
\v 21 When I spoke, people waited to hear what I would say;
\q2 they remained silent until I advised them what they should do.
\q1
\v 22 After I finished speaking, they did not say anymore;
\q2 it was as though my words fell on their ears like drops of rain.

\s5
\q1
\v 23 They waited for me to speak as they wait for rain;
\q2 they liked what I said as farmers appreciate the final rain in the spring before the dry season.
\q1
\v 24 When they were sad, I smiled at them to encourage them;
\q2 they became encouraged when they saw my cheerful face.

\s5
\q1
\v 25 I was their leader, and I decided what things would be good for them to do;
\q2 I was among them like a king who is among his troops;
\q2 I was like someone who comforts others who are mourning."