1. “Call out now; is anyone answering you?And to whom among the holy ones will you turn?
2. For anger slays the foolish man,and jealousy kills the gullible.
3. Yes, I saw the foolish taking root,and quickly I cursed his dwelling.
4. May his children be far from safety,and may they be crushed in the gate without a deliverer;
5. whose harvest the hungry eats up,and takes it even out of the thorns,and the thirsty captures his wealth.
6. For affliction does not come out of the dust,nor does trouble sprout up out of the ground;
7. but man is born to trouble,as the sparks fly upward.
8. “Indeed, I would appeal to God,and before God I would set forth my case,
9. who does the great and the inscrutable,wonders without number.
10. He gives rain on the surface of the earthand sends water on the outdoor places.
11. He sets on high those who are lowly,and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12. He frustrates the schemes of the crafty,so that their hands cannot perform their plans.
13. He catches the wise in their own craftiness,and the scheme of the shrewd is swiftly stopped.
14. In the daytime they encounter darkness,and at noontime they grope as in the night.
15. But the needy He saves from the sword,from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
16. So the helpless has hope,and injustice shuts her mouth.
17. “How happy is the man whom God corrects!Therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty,
18. for He wounds, but He applies the bandage;He injures, but His hands also heal.
19. In six crises He will deliver you;even in seven, disaster will not touch you.
20. In famine He will redeem you from death,and in war from the power of the sword.
21. You will be hidden from the lash of the tongue,and you will not fear violence when it comes.
22. You will laugh at devastation and famine,and you will not fear wild animals.
23. For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24. You will know that your tent is peaceful,and you will inspect your property and find nothing missing.
25. You will know that your offspring will be manyand your descendants as the grass of the earth.
26. You go to the grave in a full age,as stalks of grain are gathered up in season.
27. “Look! We have investigated all this, and it is so;hear it, and know for yourself.”