[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 of 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] Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous 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 be low; and those which 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 froward is carried headlong.
[14] They meet with darkness in the daytime, 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 shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
[20] In famine he shall 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 corn cometh in in its season.
[27] Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.