1“Call now, is there any who will answer you; and to which of the holy ones (saints, or angels) will you turn? 2For wrath kills the foolish man, and envy slays the silly one. 3I have seen the foolish taking root (and appearing to prosper); but just as suddenly, his house was cursed. 4His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate (the court of justice), nor is there any to deliver them, 5The hungry devours his harvest, and even takes it out of the thorns, and the robber swallows up his substance. 6Affliction does not come out of the dust, nor does trouble spring from of the ground, 7Yet man is born to trouble, just as the sparks fly upward.

8“I would seek God, and would commit my cause to Him: 9Who does great, inscrutable, and marvelous things beyond numbering. 10He gives rain to the earth, and waters the fields, 11 He sets on high those that are low; that those who mourn may be lifted to safety. 12He frustrates the devices and schemes of the crafty, so that they cannot achieve their goals. 13He traps the wise in their own cleverness; and the counsel of the perverse is soon thwarted. 14They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at noon as in the night. 15But God saves the poor and the innocent from the sword, from the jaws, and grasp of the powerful. 16So the poor has hope, and injustice shuts her snapping jaws.

17“Look how happy the man is whom God corrects; so do not despise the chastening of the Almighty: 18For He makes sore, and binds up; He wounds, but His hands also heal. 19He shall deliver you in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch you. 20In famine He shall redeem you from death; and in war from the power of the sword. 21You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue; nor shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes. 22At destruction and famine you shall laugh; nor shall you be afraid of the beasts of the earth. 23For you shall be allied with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you. 24And you shall know that your home shall know peace; and you shall find your home safe, and find nothing in it missing. 25You shall also know that your children shall be great, and your offspring as plentiful as the grass of the earth. 26You shall come to your grave in a full vigor at an old age, like a shock of grain gathered in its season. 27We have researched this, and it is so; hear it, and heed it for your own good.”