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² "Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
    as in the days when God watched over me,
³ when his ^(b)lamp shone upon my head,
    and by his light I walked through darkness,
⁴ as I was in my prime,^[a]
    when the ^(c)friendship of God was upon my tent,
⁵ when the Almighty was yet with me,
    when my ^(d)children were all around me,
⁶ when my steps were ^(e)washed with ^(f)butter,
    and ^(g)the rock poured out for me streams of ^(h)oil!
⁷ When I went out to ⁽ⁱ⁾the gate of the city,
    when I prepared my seat in the square,
⁸ the young men saw me and withdrew,
    and the aged rose and stood;
⁹ the princes refrained from talking
    and ^(j)laid their hand on their mouth;
¹⁰ the voice of the nobles was hushed,
    and their ^(k)tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
¹¹ When the ear heard, it called me blessed,
    and when the eye saw, it approved,
¹² because I ^(l)delivered the poor who cried for help,
    and the fatherless who had none to help him.
^13 (m)The blessing of him who was ⁽ⁿ⁾about to perish came upon me,
    and I caused ^(o)the widow's heart to sing for joy.
¹⁴ I ^(p)put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
    my justice was like a robe and ^(q)a turban.
¹⁵ I was ^(r)eyes to the blind
    and feet to the lame.
¹⁶ I was a father to the needy,
    and I searched out ^(s)the cause of him whom I did not know.
¹⁷ I ^(t)broke ^(u)the fangs of the unrighteous
    and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
^18 (v)Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my ^(w)nest,
    and I shall multiply my days as ^(x)the sand,
¹⁹ my ^(y)roots spread out to ^(z)the waters,
    with the dew all night on my ^(aa)branches,
²⁰ my glory fresh with me,
    and my ^(ab)bow ever ^(ac)new in my hand.'

²¹ "Men listened to me and waited
    and kept silence for my counsel.
²² After I spoke they did not speak again,
    and my word ^(ad)dropped upon them.
²³ They waited for me as for the rain,
    and they ^(ae)opened their mouths as for the ^(af)spring rain.
²⁴ I smiled on them when they had no confidence,
    and ^(ag)the light of my ^(ah)face they did not cast down.
²⁵ I chose their way and sat as chief,
    and I lived like ^(ai)a king among his troops,
    like one who comforts mourners.