1Call out, please: is there anyone who answers you? And to which of the holy ones will you turn?
2For provocation kills a fool, and jealousy puts a simple one to death.
3I have seen a fool taking root, and suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
4His sons are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer.
5Whose harvest the hungry eat, and he takes it even from the thorns, and a snare gasps for their wealth.
6For iniquity does not come out of the dust, and trouble does not sprout from the ground;
7Yet man is born to toil, as the sparks of a live coal fly high.
8But as for me, I would inquire of God, and to God I would set my cause.
9who does great things beyond inquiry, and wonders until there is no number;
10who gives rain over the face of the land and sends waters over the face of the streets;
11to set the lowly on a high place, and the mourners are set high in safety.
12He breaks the plans of the shrewd, so their hands achieve no success.
13He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the counsel of the twisted is hurried headlong.
14By day they meet darkness, and at noon they grope as in the night.
15He saves the needy from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the strong.
16So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
17Behold, blessed is the man whom God reproves; so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.
18For he causes pain and he binds up; he shatters, and his hands heal.
19In six troubles he will deliver you, and in seven no evil will touch you.
20In famine he will ransom you from death, and in war from the hands of the sword.
21You will be hidden from the whip of the tongue, and you will not fear destruction when it comes.
22You will laugh at destruction and at hunger, and do not fear the beast of the land.
23For your covenant is with the stones of the field, and the beast of the field is at peace with you.
24You will know that your tent is wholeness, and you will visit your dwelling and not go wrong.
25You will know that your seed is many, and your offspring like the grass of the land.
26You will come in firm strength to the grave, as a stack of sheaves goes up in its time.
27Behold, we have searched this out; so it is. Hear it, and you know it for yourself.