1 ¶ Call now, if there shall be anyone to answer thee; and if there shall be any of the saints for thee to look unto?

2 I t is certain that wrath kills the foolish man, and envy consumes the covetous one.

3 I have seen the foolish taking root, but at the same time I cursed his habitation.

4 H is sons are far from saving health, and they shall be crushed in the gate, and there shall be no one to deliver them.

5 T he hungry shall eat up his harvest, and even take it out from among the thorns, and the thirsty shall drink up their substance.

6 ¶ For the iniquity does not come forth out of the dust; neither does chastisement spring up out of the ground;

7 y et man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

8 I would certainly seek God, and unto God would I commit my affairs;

9 w ho does great things that no one can understand, and marvels that have no explanation;

10 w ho gives rain upon the earth and sends waters abroad;

11 w ho sets up the humble on high, that those who mourn may be lifted up with saving health.

12 H e frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.

13 H e takes the wise in their own prudence, and the counsel of his adversaries is turned to folly.

14 T hey meet with darkness in the daytime and grope in the noonday as in the night.

15 B ut he saves the poor from the sword, from the mouth of the wicked, and from the hand of the violent.

16 W ho is the hope of the poor, and iniquity closes her mouth.

17 ¶ Behold, blessed is the man whom God chastens; therefore, do not despise not the correction of the Almighty.

18 F or he makes sore, and binds up; he wounds, and his hands make whole.

19 H e shall deliver thee in six tribulations, and in the seventh no evil shall touch thee.

20 I n famine he shall ransom thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

21 T hou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it comes.

22 A t destruction and famine thou shalt laugh; neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth;

23 f or thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

24 A nd thou shalt know that there is peace in thy tent, and thou shalt visit thy habitation and shalt not sin.

25 T hou shalt know that thy seed is great and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.

26 T hou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like a shock of wheat that is gathered in its season.

27 B ehold that which we have searched out, so it is; hear it and judge it for thyself.