4. When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
5. But if you will seek God earnestly and plead with the Almighty,
6. if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your prosperous state.
7. Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.
8. “Ask the former generation and find out what their ancestors learned,
9. for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.