| New International Version | New Living Translation |
| 1"Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? | 1“Cry for help, but will anyone answer you? Which of the angels will help you? |
| 2Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. | 2Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple. |
| 3I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. | 3I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster. |
| 4His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. | 4Their children are abandoned far from help; they are crushed in court with no one to defend them. |
| 5The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. | 5The hungry devour their harvest, even when it is guarded by brambles. The thirsty pant after their wealth. |
| 6For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. | 6But evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth. |
| 7Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. | 7People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire. |
| 8"But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him. | 8“If I were you, I would go to God and present my case to him. |
| 9He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. | 9He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles. |
| 10He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside. | 10He gives rain for the earth and water for the fields. |
| 11The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. | 11He gives prosperity to the poor and protects those who suffer. |
| 12He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. | 12He frustrates the plans of schemers so the work of their hands will not succeed. |
| 13He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away. | 13He traps the wise in their own cleverness so their cunning schemes are thwarted. |
| 14Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night. | 14They find it is dark in the daytime, and they grope at noon as if it were night. |
| 15He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful. | 15He rescues the poor from the cutting words of the strong, and rescues them from the clutches of the powerful. |
| 16So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. | 16And so at last the poor have hope, and the snapping jaws of the wicked are shut. |
| 17"Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. | 17“But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin. |
| 18For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal. | 18For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal. |
| 19From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will touch you. | 19From six disasters he will rescue you; even in the seventh, he will keep you from evil. |
| 20In famine he will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. | 20He will save you from death in time of famine, from the power of the sword in time of war. |
| 21You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes. | 21You will be safe from slander and have no fear when destruction comes. |
| 22You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the wild animals. | 22You will laugh at destruction and famine; wild animals will not terrify you. |
| 23For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. | 23You will be at peace with the stones of the field, and its wild animals will be at peace with you. |
| 24You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing. | 24You will know that your home is safe. When you survey your possessions, nothing will be missing. |
| 25You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth. | 25You will have many children; your descendants will be as plentiful as grass! |
| 26You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season. | 26You will go to the grave at a ripe old age, like a sheaf of grain harvested at the proper time! |
| 27"We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself." | 27“We have studied life and found all this to be true. Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself.” |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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