1 - Call now; is there any that will answer thee? And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn?

2 - For vexation killeth the foolish man, And jealousy slayeth the silly one.

3 - I have seen the foolish taking root: But suddenly I cursed his habitation.

4 - His children are far from safety, And they are crushed in the gate, Neither is there any 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 cannot perform their enterprise.

13 - He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; And the counsel of the cunning 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 dearth 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 fold, 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 full age, Like as a shock of grain cometh in in its season.

27 - Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; Hear it, and know thou it for thy good.