1
"Call now; is there anyone who will answer you? To which of 1the holy ones will you turn?
2
Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.
3
2I have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
4
His children are 3far from safety; they are crushed in 4the gate, and there is no one to deliver them.
5
The hungry eat his harvest, and he takes it even out of thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
6
For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
7
but man is 5born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.
8
"As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause,
9
who 6does great things and 7unsearchable, 8marvelous things without number:
10
he gives 9rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields;
11
he 10sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12
He 11frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
13
He 12catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
14
They meet with darkness in the daytime and 13grope at noonday as in the night.
15
But he 14saves the needy from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the mighty.
16
So the poor have hope, and 15injustice shuts her mouth.
17
"Behold, 16blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore 17despise not the discipline of the 18Almighty.
18
For he wounds, but he 19binds up; he 20shatters, but his hands heal.
19
He will 21deliver you from six troubles; in seven no 22evil shall touch you.