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