² “O that I were^[b] as in the months before,
as in the days when God watched over me,
³ when his shining lamp was over my head—
by his light I walked through darkness—
⁴ as when I was in the days of my prime,
when God’s confiding was over my house,^[c]
5 when Shaddaiwas still with me,
my children were all around me,
⁶ when my paths were washed in sour milk,
and the rock poured out streams of oil for me.
⁷ “At my going out the gate to the city,
I secured my seat in the square.
⁸ Young men saw me and stepped aside,
and the aged rose up and stood.
⁹ Officials refrained from talking,
and they laid their hand on their mouth.
¹⁰ The voices^[d] of nobles were hushed,
and their tongue stuck to their palate.
¹¹ “When the ear heard and commended me,
and the eye saw and testified in support of me
¹² because I saved the needy who cried for help,
and I saved^[e] the orphan for whom there was no helper.
¹³ The blessing of the wretched came upon me,
and I caused 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 headband.
¹⁵ “I was eyes to the blind,
and I was feet to the lame.
¹⁶ I was a father to the poor,
and I investigated the stranger’s^[f] legal dispute.
¹⁷ And I broke the evil one’s jaw bones,
and I made his prey drop from his teeth.
¹⁸ “And I thought, ‘I will pass away in my nest,
and like the phoenix I shall multiply my days.
¹⁹ My roots were open to water,
and dew spent the night on my branches;
²⁰ My glory was new with me,
and I was revitalized regularly.’^[g]
21 “They listened to me and waited,
and they kept silent for my counsel.
²² After my word, they did not speak again,
and my word dropped down like dew upon them.
²³ And they waited for me as for the rain,
and they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain.
²⁴ I smiled for them when they had no confidence in anything,
and they did not extinguish the light of my face.
²⁵ I chose their way, and I sat as head,
and I dwelled like a king among the troops,
like one who comforts mourners.