1“Call out if you please, but who will answer?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
1“ Call out, please. Is there one answering you? And to which of the holy ones will you turn?
2For resentment kills a fool,
and envy slays the simple.
2For indignation kills the foolish, and jealousy kills the simple.
3I have seen a fool taking root,
but suddenly his house was cursed.
3I have seen a fool taking root, and suddenly I cursed his abode.
4His sons are far from safety,
crushed in court without a defender.
4His sons are far from safety; indeed they are crushed in the gate, and there is none rescuing;
5The hungry consume his harvest,
taking it even from the thorns,
and the thirsty pant after his wealth.a
5whose harvest the hungry one devours, even from among the thorns he takes it, and the thirsty one pants after their wealth.
6For distress does not spring from the dust,
and trouble does not sprout from the ground.
6For trouble does not come forth from the dust, nor does toil spring up from the ground.
7Yet man is born to trouble
as surely as sparks fly upward.
7For man is born into toil, and as the sons of the flame soar to fly.
8However, if I were you, I would appeal to God
and lay my cause before Him—
8But as for me, I would seek for God, and unto God I would commit my cause—
9the One who does great and unsearchable things,
wonders without number.
9the One doing great things, and there is no searching out, wonders until there is no numbering.
10He gives rain to the earth
and sends water upon the fields.
10The One giving rain upon the face of the earth, and sending waters upon the face of the outside,
11He sets the lowly on high,
so that mourners are lifted to safety.
11to set the lowly ones on high, and those mourning are high in safety.
12He thwarts the schemes of the crafty,
so that their hands find no success.
12He is breaking the plots of the crafty, and their hands cannot execute wisdom.
13He catches the wise in their craftiness,a
and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.
13He is catching the wise in their craftiness, and the counsel of those being deceptive is hurried.
14They encounter darkness by day
and grope at noon as in the night.
14By day they encounter darkness, and they grope about at midday as at night.
15He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth
and from the clutches of the powerful.
15And He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
16So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.
16And there is hope for the poor, and injustice shuts its mouth.
17Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.a
17Behold, blessed is the man whom God reproves, and the discipline of Shaddai you should not despise.
18For He wounds, but He also binds;
He strikes, but His hands also heal.
18For He brings pain, and binds up; he wounds, and his hands heal.
19He will rescue you from six calamities;
no harm will touch you in seven.
19In six distresses he will rescue you, and in seven, evil shall not touch you.
20In famine He will redeem you from death,
and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
20In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the hands of the sword.
21You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
and will not fear havoc when it comes.
21From the scourge of the tongue you will be hidden, and you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes.
22You will laugh at destruction and famine,
and need not fear the beasts of the earth.
22At destruction and famine you will laugh, and of the beasts of the earth you shall not be afraid.
23For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
23For your covenant will be with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.
24You will know that your tent is secure,
and find nothing amiss when inspecting your home.
24And you will know that your tent is at peace, and you shall visit your abode and not miss.
25You will know that your offspring will be many,
your descendants like the grass of the earth.
25And you will know that your seed is numerous, and your offspring like the grass of the earth.
26You will come to the grave in full vigor,
like a sheaf of grain gathered in season.
26You shall come in strength to the grave, like the lifting of a sheaf in its time.
27Indeed, we have investigated, and it is true!
So hear it and know for yourself.”
27Behold this—we have searched it out, and it is so; hear it, and you shall know it for yourself.”