1
"Call now; is there anyone who will answer you? To which of 1the holy ones will you turn?
2
Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.
3
2I have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
4
His children are 3far from safety; they are crushed in 4the 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 pantb after hisc wealth.
6
For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
7
but man is 5born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.
8
"As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause,
10
he gives 9rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields;
11
he 10sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12
He 11frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
13
He 12catches 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 13grope at noonday as in the night.
15
But he 14saves the needy from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the mighty.
16
So the poor have hope, and 15injustice shuts her mouth.
17
"Behold, 16blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore 17despise not the discipline of the 18Almighty.
20
23In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.
21
You shall be 24hidden 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 25the 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 26tent is at peace, and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
25
You shall know also that your 27offspring shall be many, and your descendants as 28the grass of the earth.
26
You shall come to your grave in 29ripe old age, like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)