1 ¶ Call out now, is there anyone to answer you; and to which of the holy ones will you turn?

2 For rage destroys the foolish man, and envy slays the simple.

3 I have seen a fool take root: but suddenly his house was cursed.

4 His children are far from safety, they are crushed in the gate, and there is none to deliver them.

5 What he reaps the hungry eat, taking it even from the thorns, and the robber swallows up their substance.

6 ¶ Surely affliction does not come out of the dust, nor does trouble sprout out of the ground;

7 Yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

8 I would go to God, and lay my case before him:

9 Who does great things that we can never understand; marvelous things without number:

10 Who gives rain upon the earth, and sends waters upon the fields:

11 Setting on high those who are lowly; and lifting to safety those who mourn.

12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot do anything of worth.

13 He catches the wise in their own tricks: and the counsel of the wayward is brought to a quick end.

14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.

15 But he saves the poor from the sword of their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.

16 Then the poor have hope, while wickedness shuts its mouth.

17 ¶ Behold, blessed is the man whom God corrects: therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty:

18 For he wounds, but binds up: he smites, but his hands heal.

19 He will save you from six troubles: yea, in seven no evil will touch you.

20 In famine he will save you from death: and in war from the power of the sword.

21 You will be safe from the scourge of the tongue: nor will you be afraid of destruction when it comes.

22 You will laugh at destruction and famine: nor will you be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field: and the wild animals will be at peace with you.

24 And you will know that your home is secure; and nothing will be missing when you inspect it.

25 You will also know that your children are many, and your offspring as the grass of the earth.

26 You shall come to your grave in a ripe old age, like a stack of hay in its season.

27 This is what we have searched out, it is true; listen to it, and learn it for your own good.