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¹ Call now; is there any that will answer thee? And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn?² For anger killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.³ I have seen the foolish taking root; but suddenly I beheld his habitation cursed.⁴ His children are far from safety, and are crushed in the gate, with none to deliver them.⁵ Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the snare gapeth for their substance.

⁶ For affliction cometh not forth from the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;⁷ But man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.⁸ But as for me, I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause;⁹ Who doeth great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number;¹⁰ Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields;¹¹ So that He setteth up on high those that are low, and those that mourn are exalted to safety.¹² He frustrateth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands can perform nothing substantial.¹³ He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the wily is carried headlong.¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the day-time, and grope at noonday as in the night.¹⁵ But He saveth from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty.¹⁶ So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

¹⁷ Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth; therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.¹⁸ For He maketh sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and His hands make whole.¹⁹ He will deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.²⁰ In famine He will redeem thee from death; and in war from the power of the sword.²¹ Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.²² At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh; neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.²³ For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.²⁴ And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt miss nothing.²⁵ Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.²⁶ Thou shalt come to thy grave in a ripe age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in its season.²⁷ Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.