5
1 “Call
now; is there
any who will
answer you?
To which of
the holy ones
will you turn?
2 For resentment
kills the foolish
man,
and jealousy
kills the simple.
3 I
have seen
the foolish taking
root,
but suddenly I
cursed his
habitation.
4 His
children are far
from safety.
They are crushed
in the gate.
Neither is there any
to deliver them,
5 whose harvest
the hungry eat up,
and take it even
out of the
thorns.
The snare gapes for
their substance.
6 For affliction
doesn’t come out
of the dust,
neither does
trouble spring out
of the ground;
7 but
man is born
to trouble,
as the sparks
fly upward.
8 “But as
for me, I would
seek God.
I would commit my
cause to God,
9 who
does great things
that can’t be fathomed,
marvelous things
without number;
10 who gives
rain on the earth,
and sends waters
on the fields;
11 so
that he sets
up on high those
who are low,
those who mourn are
exalted to safety.
12 He
frustrates the
plans of the
crafty,
so that their
hands can’t
perform their
enterprise.
13 He takes
the wise in their
own craftiness;
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
saves from the
sword of their
mouth,
even the needy from
the hand of
the mighty.
16 So
the poor has
hope,
and injustice
shuts her mouth.
17 “Behold,
happy is the man whom God
corrects.
Therefore do not despise
the chastening of
the Almighty.
18 For
he wounds and
binds up.
He injures and
his hands make
whole.
19 He
will deliver you
in six troubles;
yes, in seven no
evil will touch
you.
20 In
famine he will
redeem you from
death;
in war, from
the power of
the sword.
21 You
will be hidden
from the scourge
of the tongue,
neither will you
be afraid of
destruction when
it comes.
22 You
will laugh at
destruction and
famine,
neither will you
be afraid of
the animals of
the earth.
23 For
you will be
allied with
the stones of the
field.
The animals of
the field will
be at peace
with you.
24 You
will know that
your tent is in
peace.
You will visit
your fold, and
will miss nothing.
25 You
will know also
that your offspring
will be great,
your offspring as
the grass of
the earth.
26 You
will come to
your grave in
a full age,
like a shock of
grain comes in
its season.
27 Behold,
we have researched
it. It is
so.
Hear it, and
know it for
your good.”