| 1 | "Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? | |
| 2 | Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. | |
| 3 | I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. | |
| 4 | His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. | |
| 5 | The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. | |
| 6 | For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. | |
| 7 | Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. | |
| 8 | "But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him. | |
| 9 | He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. | |
| 10 | He bestows rain on the earth; he sends water upon the countryside. | |
| 11 | The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. | |
| 12 | He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. | |
| 13 | He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away. | |
| 14 | Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night. | |
| 15 | He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful. | |
| 16 | So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. | |
| 17 | "Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. | |
| 18 | For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal. | |
| 19 | From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will befall you. | |
| 20 | In famine he will ransom you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. | |
| 21 | You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes. | |
| 22 | You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear 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 | You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing. | |
| 25 | You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth. | |
| 26 | You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season. | |
| 27 | "We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself." | |