Read the Bible

¹ Call out! Will anyone answer you?² For anger kills a fool,
and jealousy slays the gullible.^(C1)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,^(C1)
with no one to rescue them.⁵ The hungry consume his harvest,
even taking it out of the thorns.^(F1)
The thirsty^(F2) 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^(C1)
as surely as sparks fly upward.

⁸ However, if I were you, I would appeal to God
and would present my case to him.^(C1)9 He does great^(C1) and unsearchable things,
wonders without number.^(C2)10 He gives rain to the earth
and sends water to the fields.^(C1)11 He sets the lowly on high,
and mourners are lifted to safety.^(C1)12 He frustrates the schemes of the crafty
so that they^(F1) achieve no success.¹³ He traps the wise in their craftiness
so that the plans of the deceptive
are quickly brought to an end.^(C1)14 They encounter darkness by day,
and they grope at noon
as if it were night.^(C1)15 He saves the needy from their sharp words^(F1)(C1)
and from the clutches of the powerful.¹⁶ So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.^(C1)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.^(C1)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.^(C1)21 You will be safe from slander^(F1)
and not fear destruction when it comes.^(C1)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.^(C1)24 You will know that your tent is secure,^(C1)
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^(C1) in full vigor,^(C2)
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.