Chapter 5
1 " Call now ; is there any who will answer you ? To which of the holy ones will you turn ?
2 For resentment kills the foolish man , and jealousy kills the simple .
3 I have seen the foolish taking root , but suddenly I cursed his habitation .
4 His children are far from safety . They are crushed in the gate . Neither is there any to deliver them ,
5 whose harvest the hungry eat up , and take it even out of the thorns . The snare gapes for their substance .
6 For affliction doesn’t come out of the dust , neither does trouble spring out of the ground ;
7 but man is born to trouble , as the sparks fly upward .
8 "But as for me , I would seek God. I would commit my cause to God,
9 who does great things that can ’t be fathomed, marvellous things without number ;
10 who gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields ;
11 so that he sets up on high those who are low , those who mourn are exalted to safety .
12 He frustrates the plans of the crafty , so that their hands can ’t perform their enterprise .
13 He takes the wise in their own craftiness ; the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong .
14 They meet with darkness in the day time , and grope at noonday as in the night .
15 But he saves from the sword of their mouth , even the needy from the hand of the mighty .
16 So the poor has hope , and injustice shuts her mouth .
17 " Behold , happy is the man whom God corrects . Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty .
18 For he wounds and binds up . He injures and his hands make whole .
19 He will deliver you in six troubles ; yes, in seven no evil will touch you .
20 In famine he will redeem you from death ; in war , from the power of the sword .
21 You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue , neither will you be afraid of destruction when it comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine , neither will you be afraid of the animals of the earth.
23 For you will be allied with the stones of the field . The animals of the field will be at peace with you .
24 You will know that your tent is in peace . You will visit your fold , and will miss nothing .
25 You will know also that your offspring will be great , your offspring as the grass of the earth.
26 You will come to your grave in a full age , like a shock of grain comes in its season .
27 Behold , we have researched it . It is so . Hear it , and know it for your good."