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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.
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The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
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I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban.
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I was eyes to the blind, And I was feet to the lame.
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I was a father to the poor, And I searched out the case that I did not know.
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I broke the fangs of the wicked, And plucked the victim from his teeth.
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"Then I said, 'I shall die in my nest, And multiply my days as the sand.
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My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lies all night on my branch.
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My glory is fresh within me, And my bow is renewed in my hand.'
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"Men listened to me and waited, And kept silence for my counsel.
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After my words they did not speak again, And my speech settled on them as dew.
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They waited for me as for the rain, And they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain.
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If I mocked at them, they did not believe it, And the light of my countenance they did not cast down.
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I chose the way for them, and sat as chief; So I dwelt as a king in the army, As one who comforts mourners.