1Call now; is there any that will answer thee?And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn?2For vexation killeth the foolish man,And 1jealousy slayeth the silly one.3I have seen the foolish taking root:But suddenly I cursed his habitation.4His children are far from safety,And they are crushed in the gate,Neither is there any to deliver them:5Whose harvest the hungry eateth up,And taketh it even out of the thorns;And 2the snare gapeth for their substance.6For 3affliction cometh not forth from the dust,Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;7But man is born unto trouble,As 4the sparks fly upward.
8But as for me, I would seek unto God,And unto God would I commit my cause;9Who doeth great things and unsearchable,Marvellous things without number:10Who giveth rain upon the earth,And sendeth waters upon the fields;11So that he setteth up on high those that are low,And those that mourn are exalted to safety.12He frustrateth the devices of the crafty,So that their hands 5cannot perform their enterprise.13He taketh the wise in their own craftiness;And the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.14They meet with darkness in the day-time,And grope at noonday as in the night.15But he saveth from the sword 6of their mouth,Even the needy from the hand of the mighty.16So the poor hath hope,And iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
17Behold, happy is the man whom God 7correcteth:Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.18For he maketh sore, and bindeth up;He woundeth, and his hands make whole.19He will deliver thee in six troubles;Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.20In famine he will redeem thee from death;And in war from the power of the sword.21Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue;Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.22At destruction and dearth thou shalt laugh;Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.23For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field;And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.24And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace;And thou shalt visit thy 8fold, and 9shalt miss nothing.25Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great,And thine offspring as the grass of the earth.26Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age,Like as a shock of grain cometh in in its season.27Lo this, we have searched it, so it is;Hear it, and know thou it 10for thy good.