[1] “Cry for help, but will anyone answer you? Which of the angels will help you?
[2] Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple.
[3] I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster.
[4] Their children are abandoned far from help; they are crushed in court with no one to defend them.
[5] The hungry devour their harvest, even when it is guarded by brambles. The thirsty pant after their wealth.
[6] But evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth.
[7] People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.
[8] “If I were you, I would go to God and present my case to him.
[9] He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.
[10] He gives rain for the earth and water for the fields.
[11] He gives prosperity to the poor and protects those who suffer.
[12] He frustrates the plans of schemers so the work of their hands will not succeed.
[13] He traps the wise in their own cleverness so their cunning schemes are thwarted.
[14] They find it is dark in the daytime, and they grope at noon as if it were night.
[15] He rescues the poor from the cutting words of the strong, and rescues them from the clutches of the powerful.
[16] And so at last the poor have hope, and the snapping jaws of the wicked are shut.
[17] “But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin.
[18] For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal.
[19] From six disasters he will rescue you; even in the seventh, he will keep you from evil.
[20] He will save you from death in time of famine, from the power of the sword in time of war.
[21] You will be safe from slander and have no fear when destruction comes.
[22] You will laugh at destruction and famine; wild animals will not terrify you.
[23] You will be at peace with the stones of the field, and its wild animals will be at peace with you.
[24] You will know that your home is safe. When you survey your possessions, nothing will be missing.
[25] You will have many children; your descendants will be as plentiful as grass!
[26] You will go to the grave at a ripe old age, like a sheaf of grain harvested at the proper time!
[27] “We have studied life and found all this to be true. Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself.”