1 “Call out, please, is there anyone to answer you? And to which of the set-apart ones would you turn?
2 For wrath kills the fool, and envy slays the simple.
3 I myself have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly his home was cursed.
4 His sons are far from safety, they are crushed in the gate, with no one to deliver.
5 The hungry eat up his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the snare snaps up their wealth.
6 For evil does not come from the dust, nor does trouble spring from the ground;
7 for man is born for trouble, and the sparks fly upward.
8 But as for me, I would seek Ěl, and I would submit my case to Elohim,
9 who is doing great and unsearchable deeds, innumerable wonders,
10 who is giving rain on the earth’s face, and is sending waters on the field’s face;
11 to set the lowly on high, and those who mourn shall be lifted to safety,
12 thwarting the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands do not work effectively;
13 catching the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of schemers are swept away.
14 By day they encounter darkness, and at noon they grope as in the night.
15 But He saves the needy from the sword of their mouth, from the clutches of the strong.
16 Thus the poor have expectancy, and unrighteousness shuts her mouth.
17 Look, blessed is the man whom Eloah does reprove, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
18 For He bruises, but He binds up; He smites, but His hands heal.
19 In six distresses He delivers you, and in seven no evil strikes you.
20 In scarcity of food He shall redeem you from death, and in battle from the power of the sword.
21 When the tongue scourges you are shielded, and you have no fear when destruction comes.
22 At destruction and at starvation you laugh, and you have no fear of the beasts of the earth.
23 For your covenant is with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
24 And you shall know that your tent is in peace, and shall visit your tent and not sin,
25 and shall know that your seed are many, and your offspring like the grass of the earth.
26 You shall come to the grave in ripe old age, like the stacking of grain in its season.
27 Look, this we have searched out, it is so. Hear it, and know for yourself.”