² “Oh that I were as in months gone by,
As in the days when God ^(B)watched over me;
³ When ^(C)His lamp shone over my head,
And ^(D)by His light I walked through darkness;
⁴ Just as I was in the days of my youth,
When the ^(E)protection of God was over my tent;
⁵ When ^[a]the Almighty was still with me,
And my children were around me;
⁶ When my steps were bathed in ^(F)cream,
And the ^(G)rock poured out streams of oil for me!
⁷ When I went out to ^(H)the gate of the city,
When I ^[b]took my seat in the public square,
⁸ The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the old men arose and stood.
⁹ The leaders ^(I)stopped talking
And ^(J)put their hands on their mouths;
¹⁰ The voices of the prominent people were ^[c](K)hushed,
And their ^(L)tongues stuck to their palates.
¹¹ For when ^(M)an ear heard, it called me blessed,
And when an eye saw, it testified in support of me,
¹² Because I saved ^(N)the poor who cried for help,
And the ^(O)orphan who had no helper.
¹³ The blessing of the one who ^(P)was about to perish came upon me,
And I made the ^(Q)widow’s heart sing for joy.
¹⁴ I ^(R)put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a headband.
¹⁵ I was ^(S)eyes to those who were blind,
And feet to those who ^[d]could not walk.
¹⁶ I was a father to ^(T)the poor,
And I investigated the case which I did not know.
¹⁷ I ^(U)broke the jaws of the wicked
And rescued the prey from his teeth.
¹⁸ Then I ^[e]thought, ‘I will die with my ^[f]family,
And I will multiply my days as the sand.
¹⁹ My ^(V)root is spread out to the waters,
And ^(W)dew lies on my branch all night.
²⁰ My glory is ever new with me,
And my ^(X)bow is renewed in my hand.’