Job 29 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Job continued telling his story. Job said:

² “I wish my life was like it was\par a few months ago.\par At that time God watched over me\par and cared for me.\par

³ At that time, God’s light shined above me\par so I could walk through the darkness—\par \{God showed me the right way to live\}.\par

⁴ I wish for the days when I was successful,\par and God was my close friend.\par In those days God blessed my home.\par

⁵ I wish for the time when\par God All-Powerful was still with me,\par and my children were all around me.\par

⁶ Life was very good then.\par I washed my feet in cream,\par and I had plenty of the finest oils. {\cf2\super [59]} \par

⁷ “Those were the days\par when I went to the city gate\par and sat with the elders of the city\par in the public meeting place.\par

⁸ All the people there respected me!\par The young men stepped out of my way\par when they saw me coming.\par And the old men got up.\par They stood to show they respected me.\par

⁹ The leaders of the people stopped talking\par and put their hand to their mouth\par \{to make other people be quiet\}.\par

¹⁰ Even the most important leaders\par lowered their voices when they spoke.\par Yes, it seemed like their tongues\par stuck to the roof of their mouths.\par

¹¹ People listened to what I said\par and then said good things about me.\par People watched what I did,\par and then they praised me.\par

¹² Why? Because when the poor person\par cried out for help, I helped.\par And I helped the child that had no parents\par and no one to care for him.\par

¹³ The person that was dying blessed me.\par I helped widows {\cf2\super [60]} that were in need.\par

¹⁴ Right living was my clothing.\par Fairness was like my robe and turban. {\cf2\super [61]} \par

¹⁵ I was the eyes for blind people.\par \{I led them where they wanted to go.\}\par I was the feet for crippled people.\par \{I carried them where they wanted to go.\}\par

¹⁶ I was like a father for poor people.\par I helped people I didn’t even know\par win their arguments in court.\par

¹⁷ I stopped evil people abusing their power\par and saved innocent people from them. {\cf2\super [62]} \par

¹⁸ “I always thought I would live a long life,\par growing old with my family around me.\par

¹⁹ I thought I would be healthy and virile\par like a healthy plant with\par roots that have plenty of water\par and branches that are wet with dew.\par

²⁰ I thought each new day\par would be bright and full of new and exciting possibilities. {\cf2\super [63]} \par

²¹ “In the past, people listened to me.\par They were quiet while they waited\par for my advice.\par

²² After I had finished speaking,\par the people listening to me\par didn’t have anything else to say.\par My words fell gently into their ears.\par

²³ People waited for me to speak,\par like they waited for rain.\par People drank in my words,\par as if they were rain in the spring time.\par

²⁴ I laughed with those people,\par and they couldn’t believe it.\par My smile made them feel better.\par

²⁵ I chose to be with those people,\par even though I was their leader.\par I was like a king in camp with his troops,\par