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continued his discourse, saying:
2 “How I long to again live in months gone by,
in the days when God watched over me,
3 when His lamp shone above my head,
and I by His light walked through darkness!
4 If only I remained in the days of my prime,
when the friendship of God rested on my tent,
5 when the Almighty was still with me,
and my children were around me,
6 when my steps were bathed in cream,
and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
7 “When I went to the gate of the city,
and I took my seat in the public square,
8 young men saw me and stepped aside,
elders rose and stood;
9 leaders refrained from speaking,
and covered their mouths with their hands;
10 the voices of nobles were hushed,
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
11 When the ear heard me, it blessed me,
and when the eye saw me, it approved,
12 because I delivered the poor who cried out,
and the fatherless who had no one to help.
13 The man who was dying blessed me,
and I made the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
my justice was like a robe and a turban.
15 I was eyes to the blind,
and feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the needy,
and I searched out the case of the stranger.
17 I broke the fangs of the wicked,
and snatched the victim from his teeth.
18 “So I thought, ‘I will die in my own nest,
and I will multiply my days as the sand.
19 My roots will spread out by the waters,
and the dew will rest all night on my branches.
20 My glory will remain fresh within me,
and my bow will be ever new in my hand’.
21 “Men listened to me with expectation,
and kept silent waiting for my counsel.
22 After my words they did not speak again,
and my speech settled on them.
23 They waited for me as for the rain,
and they opened their mouths as for the spring showers.
24 When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it,
at the light of my countenance they were elated.
25 I decided their course and presided as chief,
and I lived as a king among his troops,
like one who comforts the mourners.”