en_tn_condensed/job/38/03.md

gird up your loins like a man

"tie your robe up around your waist like a man." Men tied up their robes around their waists so that their legs could move more freely as they did heavy work. The idiom "gird up your loins like a man" means to get ready to do something involving action such as work, a contest, or a battle. Job was to prepare for the hard work of answering God. Alternate translation: "get yourself ready for hard work" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-idiom)