1 “Call now, is there anyone answering you? And to which of the holy ones will you turn?
2 For vexation will slay the fool, and jealousy will kill the simple.
3 I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
4 His children are far from deliverance, and they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer—
5 whose harvest the hungry eats, and he takes it from behind the thorns; and the thirsty pants after their wealth.
6 Indeed, mischief does not come from the dust, and trouble does not sprout from the earth.
7 But a human being is born to trouble, and they soar aloft like sparks.
8 “But I myself will seek God, and to God I would commit my cause.
9 He is doing great and unsearchable things, marvelous things without number—
10 the one who is giving rain on the surface of the earth and is sending water on the surface of the fields,
11 to set the lowly on high, and those mourning are lifted to safety.
12 He is frustrating the devices of the crafty, and their hands do not achieve success.
13 He is capturing the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are rushed.
14 In the daytime they meet with darkness, and they grope at noon as in the night.
15 And he saves from the sword of their mouth, even the poor from the hand of the strong.
16 So there is hope for the powerless, and wickedness shuts its mouth.
17 “Look, happy is the human being whom God reproves; and you must not despise the discipline of Shaddai,
18 for he himself wounds, but he binds up; he strikes, but his hands heal.
19 From six troubles he will deliver you, and in seven evil shall not touch you.
20 In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.
21 From the scourge of the tongue you shall be hidden, and you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes.
22 At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and you shall not fear the wild animals of the earth.
23 For your covenant will be with the stones of the field, and the wild animals of the field will be at peace with you.
24 And you shall know that your tent is safe, and you will inspect your fold, and you shall not be missing anything.
25 And you shall know that your offspring are many, and your descendants like the vegetation of the earth.
26 You shall come in maturity to the grave, as the raising up of a stack of sheaves in its season.
27 “Look, we have searched this out—it is true; hear it and know it yourself.”