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The Message Bible

Job Chapter: 29

1: Job now resumed his response:

2: "Oh, how I long for the good old days, when God took such very good care of me.

3: He always held a lamp before me and I walked through the dark by its light.

4: Oh, how I miss those golden years when God's friendship graced my home,

5: When the Mighty One was still by my side and my children were all around me,

6: When everything was going my way, and nothing seemed too difficult.

7: "When I walked downtown and sat with my friends in the public square,

8: Young and old greeted me with respect; I was honored by everyone in town.

9: When I spoke, everyone listened;

10: they hung on my every word.

11: People who knew me spoke well of me; my reputation went ahead of me.

12: I was known for helping people in trouble and standing up for those who were down on their luck.

13: The dying blessed me, and the bereaved were cheered by my visits.

14: All my dealings with people were good. I was known for being fair to everyone I met.

15: I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame,

16: Father to the needy, and champion of abused aliens.

17: I grabbed street thieves by the scruff of the neck and made them give back what they'd stolen.

18: I thought, "I'll die peacefully in my own bed, grateful for a long and full life,

19: A life deep-rooted and well-watered, a life limber and dew-fresh,

20: My soul suffused with glory and my body robust until the day I die.'

21: "Men and women listened when I spoke, hung expectantly on my every word.

22: After I spoke, they'd be quiet, taking it all in.

23: They welcomed my counsel like spring rain, drinking it all in.

24: When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it; their faces lit up, their troubles took wing!

25: I was their leader, establishing the mood and setting the pace by which they lived. Where I led, they followed.

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