1-6. Job now resumed his response:“Oh, how I long for the good old days,when God took such very good care of me.He always held a lamp before meand I walked through the dark by its light.Oh, how I miss those golden yearswhen God’s friendship graced my home,When the Mighty One was still by my sideand my children were all around me,When everything was going my way,and nothing seemed too difficult.
21-25. “Men and women listened when I spoke,hung expectantly on my every word.After I spoke, they’d be quiet,taking it all in.They welcomed my counsel like spring rain,drinking it all in.When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it;their faces lit up, their troubles took wing!I was their leader, establishing the moodand setting the pace by which they lived.Where I led, they followed.”