[1] Call out! Will anyone answer you? Which of the holy ones will you turn to? [2] For anger kills a fool, and jealousy slays the gullible. [3] I have seen a fool taking root, but I immediately pronounced a curse on his home. [4] His children are far from safety. They are crushed at the city gate, with no one to rescue them. [5] The hungry consume his harvest, even taking it out of the thorns. The thirsty pant for his children's wealth. [6] For distress does not grow out of the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the ground. [7] But humans are born for trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. [8] However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and would present my case to him. [9] He does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number. [10] He gives rain to the earth and sends water to the fields. [11] He sets the lowly on high, and mourners are lifted to safety. [12] He frustrates the schemes of the crafty so that they achieve no success. [13] He traps the wise in their craftiness so that the plans of the deceptive are quickly brought to an end. [14] They encounter darkness by day, and they grope at noon as if it were night. [15] He saves the needy from their sharp words and from the clutches of the powerful. [16] So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. [17] See how happy is the person whom God corrects; so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty. [18] For he wounds but he also bandages; he strikes, but his hands also heal. [19] He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven. [20] In famine he will redeem you from death, and in battle, from the power of the sword. [21] You will be safe from slander and not fear destruction when it comes. [22] You will laugh at destruction and hunger and not fear the land's wild creatures. [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, and nothing will be missing when you inspect your home. [25] You will also know that your offspring will be many and your descendants like the grass of the earth. [26] You will approach the grave in full vigor, as a stack of sheaves is gathered in its season. [27] We have investigated this, and it is true! Hear it and understand it for yourself.
