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"Oh that I were as in the months of old, As in the days when God watched over me;
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When his lamp shone on my head, And by his light I walked through darkness;
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As I was in the ripeness of my days, When the friendship of God was in my tent;
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When the Almighty was yet with me, And my children were around me;
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When my steps were washed with butter, And the rock poured out streams of oil for me!
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When I went forth to the city gate, When I prepared my seat in the street,
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The young men saw me and hid themselves, The aged rose up and stood;
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The princes refrained from talking, And laid their hand on their mouth;
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The voice of the nobles was hushed, And their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
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For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; And when the eye saw me, it commended me:
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Because I delivered the poor who cried, And the fatherless also, who had none to help him.
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The blessing of him who was ready to perish came on 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 as a robe and a diadem.
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I was eyes to the blind, And feet to the lame.
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I was a father to the needy. The cause of him who I didn`t know, I searched out.
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I broke the jaws of the unrighteous, And plucked the prey out of his teeth.
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Then I said, `I shall die in my own house, I shall number my days as the sand.
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My root is spread out to the waters, The dew lies all night on my branch;
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My glory is fresh in me, My bow is renewed in my hand.`
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"Men listened to me, waited, And kept silence for my counsel.
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After my words they didn`t speak again; My speech fell on them.
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They waited for me as for the rain. Their mouths drank as with the spring rain.
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I smiled on them when they had no confidence. They didn`t reject the light of my face.
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I chose out their way, and sat as chief. I lived as a king in the army, As one who comforts the mourners.