18. “I thought, ‘I will live for as many days as there are grains of sand.And I will die in my own house.
19. I will be like a tree whose roots reach down to the water.The dew will lie on the branches all night.
20. New honors will come to me continually.I will always have great strength.’
21. “People listened to me carefully.They waited quietly for my advice.
22. After I finished speaking, they spoke no more.My words fell very gently on their ears.
23. They waited for me as they would for rain.They drank in my words as if they were spring rain.
24. I smiled at them when they doubted.And my approval was important to them.
25. I chose the right way for them and was their leader.I lived like a king among his army.I was like a person who gives comfort to sad people.