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Oh, that I were as in months past, As in the days when God watched over me;
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When His lamp shone upon my head, And when by His light I walked through darkness;
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Just as I was in the days of my prime, When the friendly counsel of God was over my tent;
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When the Almighty was yet with me, When my children were around me;
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When my steps were bathed with cream, And the rock poured out rivers of oil for me!
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"When I went out to the gate by the city, When I took my seat in the open square,
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The young men saw me and hid, And the aged arose and stood;
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The princes refrained from talking, And put their hand on their mouth;
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The voice of nobles was hushed, And their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
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When the ear heard, then it blessed me, And when the eye saw, then it approved me;
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Because I delivered the poor who cried out, The fatherless and the one who had no helper.