Read the Bible

² "How long will you talk like that?
    Your words are nothing but hot air!
³ God is always fair.
    God All-Powerful does what is right.
⁴ If your children sinned against God, he punished them.
    They paid for their sins.
⁵ But now, look to God
    and pray to the All-Powerful.
⁶ If you are pure and good,
    he will quickly come to help you.
    He will give your family back to you.
⁷ Then you will have a lot more
    than you had in the beginning!

⁸ "Ask those who are now old.
    Find out what their ancestors learned.
⁹ It seems as though we were born yesterday.
    We are too young to know anything.
    Our days on earth are very short, like a shadow.
¹⁰ Maybe the old people can tell you something.
    Maybe they will teach you what they learned.

¹¹ "Can papyrus grow tall on a dry land?
    Can reeds grow without water?
¹² No, they will dry up before harvest.
    They will be too small to cut and use.
¹³ People who forget God are like that.
    Those who oppose him have no hope.
¹⁴ They have put their trust in something weak.
    It is like a spider's web.
¹⁵ When they lean against it,
    it will break.
When they reach out for it,
    it will not hold them up.
¹⁶ Such people are like a vine that gets plenty of water and sunshine,
    and its branches spread throughout the garden.
¹⁷ Its roots spread among the rocks,
    searching for good soil.
¹⁸ But if you move it, it will die,
    and no one can tell it was ever there.
¹⁹ Everything might have been going well,
    but another vine will take its place.
²⁰ God does not support evil people,
    and he does not abandon the innocent.
²¹ So perhaps you might laugh again.
    Maybe shouts of joy will come from your lips.
²² Maybe your enemies will be humiliated
    and the homes of the wicked destroyed."