Read the Bible

¹ "Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
    To which of ^(a)the holy ones will you turn?
² Surely vexation kills the fool,
    and jealousy slays the simple.
^3 (b)I have seen the fool taking root,
    but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
⁴ His children are ^(c)far from safety;
    they are crushed in ^(d)the gate,
    and there is no one to deliver them.
⁵ The hungry eat his harvest,
    and he takes it even out of thorns,^[a]
    and the thirsty pant^[b] after his^[c] wealth.
⁶ For affliction does not come from the dust,
    nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
⁷ but man is ^(e)born 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 ^(f)does great things and ^(g)unsearchable,
    ^(h)marvelous things without number:
¹⁰ he gives ⁽ⁱ⁾rain on the earth
    and sends waters on the fields;
¹¹ he ^(j)sets on high those who are lowly,
    and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
¹² He ^(k)frustrates the devices of the crafty,
    so that their hands achieve no success.
¹³ He ^(l)catches 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 ^(m)grope at noonday as in the night.
¹⁵ But he ⁽ⁿ⁾saves the needy from the sword of their mouth
    and from the hand of the mighty.
¹⁶ So the poor have hope,
    and ^(o)injustice shuts her mouth.

¹⁷ "Behold, ^(p)blessed is the one whom God reproves;
    therefore ^(q)despise not the discipline of the ^(r)Almighty.
¹⁸ For he wounds, but he ^(s)binds up;
    he ^(t)shatters, but his hands heal.
¹⁹ He will ^(u)deliver you from six troubles;
    in seven no ^(v)evil^[d] shall touch you.
^20 (w)In famine he will redeem you from death,
    and in war from the power of the sword.
²¹ You shall be ^(x)hidden from the lash of the tongue,
    and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
²² At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
    and shall not fear ^(y)the beasts of the earth.
²³ For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
    and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
²⁴ You shall know that your ^(z)tent is at peace,
    and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
²⁵ You shall know also that your ^(aa)offspring shall be many,
    and your descendants as ^(ab)the grass of the earth.
²⁶ You shall come to your grave in ^(ac)ripe old age,
    like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
²⁷ Behold, this we have ^(ad)searched out; it is true.
    Hear, and know it for your good."^[e]