² “Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
    as in the days when God watched over me,
³ when his ^(B)lamp shone upon my head,
    and by his light I walked through darkness,
⁴ as I was in my prime,^[a]
    when the ^(C)friendship of God was upon my tent,
⁵ when the Almighty was yet with me,
    when my ^(D)children were all around me,
⁶ when my steps were ^(E)washed with ^(F)butter,
    and ^(G)the rock poured out for me streams of ^(H)oil!
⁷ When I went out to ^(I)the gate of the city,
    when I prepared my seat in the square,
⁸ the young men saw me and withdrew,
    and the aged rose and stood;
⁹ the princes refrained from talking
    and ^(J)laid their hand on their mouth;
¹⁰ the voice of the nobles was hushed,
    and their ^(K)tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
¹¹ When the ear heard, it called me blessed,
    and when the eye saw, it approved,
¹² because I ^(L)delivered the poor who cried for help,
    and the fatherless who had none to help him.
^13 (M)The blessing of him who was ^(N)about to perish came upon me,
    and I caused ^(O)the widow's heart to sing for joy.
¹⁴ I ^(P)put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
    my justice was like a robe and ^(Q)a turban.
¹⁵ I was ^(R)eyes to the blind
    and feet to the lame.
¹⁶ I was a father to the needy,
    and I searched out ^(S)the cause of him whom I did not know.
¹⁷ I ^(T)broke ^(U)the fangs of the unrighteous
    and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
^18 (V)Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my ^(W)nest,
    and I shall multiply my days as ^(X)the sand,
¹⁹ my ^(Y)roots spread out to ^(Z)the waters,
    with the dew all night on my ^(AA)branches,
²⁰ my glory fresh with me,
    and my ^(AB)bow ever ^(AC)new in my hand.’

²¹ “Men listened to me and waited
    and kept silence for my counsel.
²² After I spoke they did not speak again,
    and my word ^(AD)dropped upon them.
²³ They waited for me as for the rain,
    and they ^(AE)opened their mouths as for the ^(AF)spring rain.
²⁴ I smiled on them when they had no confidence,
    and ^(AG)the light of my ^(AH)face they did not cast down.
²⁵ I chose their way and sat as chief,
    and I lived like ^(AI)a king among his troops,
    like one who comforts mourners.