1“Call out, please, is there anyone to answer you? And to which of the set-apart ones would you turn?

2For wrath kills the fool, and envy slays the simple.

3I myself have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly his home was cursed.

4His sons are far from safety, they are crushed in the gate, with no one to deliver.

5The hungry eat up his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the snare snaps up their wealth.

6For evil does not come from the dust, nor does trouble spring from the ground;

7for man is born for trouble, and the sparks fly upward.

8But as for me, I would seek Ěl, and I would submit my case to Elohim,

9who is doing great and unsearchable deeds, innumerable wonders,

10who is giving rain on the earth’s face, and is sending waters on the field’s face;

11to set the lowly on high, and those who mourn shall be lifted to safety,

12thwarting the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands do not work effectively;

13catching the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of schemers are swept away.

14By day they encounter darkness, and at noon they grope as in the night.

15But He saves the needy from the sword of their mouth, from the clutches of the strong.

16Thus the poor have expectancy, and unrighteousness shuts her mouth.

17Look, blessed is the man whom Eloah does reprove, so do not despise the discipline of the Almightya.

18For He bruises, but He binds up; He smites, but His hands heala.

19In six distresses He delivers you, and in seven no evil strikes you.

20In scarcity of food He shall redeem you from death, and in battle from the power of the sword.

21When the tongue scourges you are shielded, and you have no fear when destruction comes.

22At destruction and at starvation you laugh, and you have no fear of the beasts of the earth.

23For your covenant is with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

24And you shall know that your tent is in peace, and shall visit your tent and not sin,

25and shall know that your seed are many, and your offspring like the grass of the earth.

26You shall come to the grave in ripe old age, like the stacking of grain in its season.

27Look, this we have searched out, it is so. Hear it, and know for yourself.”