2 �Oh that I were as in the months of old, As in the days when God watched over me;

3 When his lamp shone on my head, And by his light I walked through darkness;

4 As I was in the ripeness of my days, When the friendship of God was in my tent;

5 When the Almighty was yet with me, And my children were around me;

6 When my steps were washed with butter, And the rock poured out streams of oil for me!

7 When I went forth to the city gate, When I prepared my seat in the street,

8 The young men saw me and hid themselves, The aged rose up and stood;

9 The princes refrained from talking, And laid their hand on their mouth;

10 The voice of the nobles was hushed, And their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.

11 For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; And when the eye saw me, it commended me:

12 Because I delivered the poor who cried, And the fatherless also, who had none to help him.

13 The blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, And I caused the widow�s heart to sing for joy.

14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem.

15 I was eyes to the blind, And feet to the lame.

16 I was a father to the needy. The cause of him who I didn�t know, I searched out.

17 I broke the jaws of the unrighteous, And plucked the prey out of his teeth.

18 Then I said, �I shall die in my own house, I shall number my days as the sand.

19 My root is spread out to the waters, The dew lies all night on my branch;

20 My glory is fresh in me, My bow is renewed in my hand.�

21 �Men listened to me, waited, And kept silence for my counsel.

22 After my words they didn�t speak again; My speech fell on them.

23 They waited for me as for the rain. Their mouths drank as with the spring rain.

24 I smiled on them when they had no confidence. They didn�t reject the light of my face.

25 I chose out their way, and sat as chief. I lived as a king in the army, As one who comforts the mourners.

World English Bible - Public Domain