5. "If you would seek God And implore the compassion of the Almighty,
6. If you are pure and upright, Surely now He would rouse Himself for you And restore your righteous estate.
7. "Though your beginning was insignificant, Yet your end will increase greatly.
8. "Please inquire of past generations, And consider the things searched out by their fathers.
9. "For we are only of yesterday and know nothing, Because our days on earth are as a shadow.
10. "Will they not teach you and tell you, And bring forth words from their minds?
11. "Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh? Can the rushes grow without water?
12. "While it is still green and not cut down, Yet it withers before any other plant.
13. "So are the paths of all who forget God; And the hope of the godless will perish,
14. Whose confidence is fragile, And whose trust a spider's web.
15. "He trusts in his house, but it does not stand; He holds fast to it, but it does not endure.
16. "He thrives before the sun, And his shoots spread out over his garden.
17. "His roots wrap around a rock pile, He grasps a house of stones.