[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.