| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1“Cry for help, but will anyone answer you? Which of the angels will help you? | 1“Call out if you please, but who will answer? To which of the holy ones will you turn? |
| 2Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple. | 2For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. |
| 3I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster. | 3I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. |
| 4Their children are abandoned far from help; they are crushed in court with no one to defend them. | 4His sons are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. |
| 5The hungry devour their harvest, even when it is guarded by brambles. The thirsty pant after their wealth. | 5The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. |
| 6But evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth. | 6For distress does not spring from the dust, and trouble does not sprout from the ground. |
| 7People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire. | 7Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. |
| 8“If I were you, I would go to God and present my case to him. | 8However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and lay my cause before Him— |
| 9He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles. | 9the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number. |
| 10He gives rain for the earth and water for the fields. | 10He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields. |
| 11He gives prosperity to the poor and protects those who suffer. | 11He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety. |
| 12He frustrates the plans of schemers so the work of their hands will not succeed. | 12He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success. |
| 13He traps the wise in their own cleverness so their cunning schemes are thwarted. | 13He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning. |
| 14They find it is dark in the daytime, and they grope at noon as if it were night. | 14They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night. |
| 15He rescues the poor from the cutting words of the strong, and rescues them from the clutches of the powerful. | 15He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth and from the clutches of the powerful. |
| 16And so at last the poor have hope, and the snapping jaws of the wicked are shut. | 16So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. |
| 17“But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin. | 17Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. |
| 18For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal. | 18For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal. |
| 19From six disasters he will rescue you; even in the seventh, he will keep you from evil. | 19He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven. |
| 20He will save you from death in time of famine, from the power of the sword in time of war. | 20In famine He will redeem you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. |
| 21You will be safe from slander and have no fear when destruction comes. | 21You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and will not fear havoc when it comes. |
| 22You will laugh at destruction and famine; wild animals will not terrify you. | 22You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth. |
| 23You will be at peace with the stones of the field, and its wild animals will be at peace with you. | 23For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. |
| 24You will know that your home is safe. When you survey your possessions, nothing will be missing. | 24You will know that your tent is secure, and find nothing amiss when inspecting your home. |
| 25You will have many children; your descendants will be as plentiful as grass! | 25You will know that your offspring will be many, your descendants like the grass of the earth. |
| 26You will go to the grave at a ripe old age, like a sheaf of grain harvested at the proper time! | 26You will come to the grave in full vigor, like a sheaf of grain gathered in season. |
| 27“We have studied life and found all this to be true. Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself.” | 27Indeed, we have investigated, and it is true! So hear it and know for yourself.” |
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