1 “ Call now; is there any who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?

2 F or resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.

3 I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

4 H is children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,

5 w hose harvest the hungry eats up, and take it even out of the thorns. The snare gapes for their substance.

6 F or affliction doesn’t come out of the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground;

7 b ut man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

8 “ But as for me, I would seek God. I would commit my cause to God,

9 w ho does great things that can’t be fathomed, marvelous things without number;

10 w ho gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields;

11 s o that he sets up on high those who are low, those who mourn are exalted to safety.

12 H e frustrates the devices of the crafty, So that their hands can’t perform their enterprise.

13 H e takes the wise in their own craftiness; the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.

14 T hey meet with darkness in the day time, and grope at noonday as in the night.

15 B ut he saves from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty.

16 S o the poor has hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.

17 “ Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.

18 F or he wounds, and binds up. He injures, and his hands make whole.

19 H e will deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.

20 I n famine he will redeem you from death; in war, from the power of the sword.

21 Y ou shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes.

22 A t destruction and famine you shall laugh, neither shall you be afraid of the animals of the earth.

23 F or you shall be allied with the stones of the field. The animals of the field shall be at peace with you.

24 Y ou shall know that your tent is in peace. You shall visit your fold, and shall miss nothing.

25 Y ou shall know also that your offspring shall be great, Your offspring as the grass of the earth.

26 Y ou shall come to your grave in a full age, like a shock of grain comes in its season.

27 L ook this, we have searched it, so it is. Hear it, and know it for your good.”