2 “Will you be patient and let me say a word?For who could keep from speaking out?
3 “In the past you have encouraged many people;you have strengthened those who were weak.
4 Your words have supported those who were falling;you encouraged those with shaky knees.
5 But now when trouble strikes, you lose heart.You are terrified when it touches you.
6 Doesn’t your reverence for God give you confidence?Doesn’t your life of integrity give you hope?
7 “Stop and think! Do the innocent die?When have the upright been destroyed?
8 My experience shows that those who plant troubleand cultivate evil will harvest the same.