1But call, if any one will hearken to thee, or if thou shalt see any of the holy angels.

2For wrath destroys the foolish one, and envy slays him that has gone astray.

3And I have seen foolish ones taking root: but suddenly their habitation was devoured.

4Let their children be far from safety, and let them be crushed at the doors of vile men, and let there be no deliverer.

5For what they have collected, the just shall eat; but they shall not be delivered out of calamities: let their strength be utterly exhausted.

6For labour cannot by any means come out of the earth, nor shall trouble spring out of the mountains:

7yet man is born to labour, and even so the vulture's young seek the high places.

8Nevertheless I will beseech the Lord, and will call upon the Lord, the sovereign of all;

9who does great things and untraceable, glorious things also, and marvellous, of which there is no number:

10who gives rain upon the earth, sending water on the earth:

11who exalts the lowly, and raises up them that are lost:

12frustrating the counsels of the crafty, and their hands shall not perform the truth:

13who takes the wise in their wisdom, and subverts the counsel of the crafty.

14In the day darkness shall come upon them, and let them grope in the noon-day even as in the night:

15and let them perish in war, and let the weak escape from the hand of the mighty.

16And let the weak have hope, but the mouth of the unjust be stopped.

17But blessed is the man whom the Lord has reproved; and reject not thou the chastening of the Almighty.

18For he causes a man to be in pain, and restores him again: he smites, and his hands heal.

19Six times he shall deliver thee out of distresses: and in the seventh harm shall not touch thee.

20In famine he shall deliver thee from death: and in war he shall free thee from the power of the sword.

21He shall hide thee from the scourge of the tongue: and thou shalt not be afraid of coming evils.

22Thou shalt laugh at the unrighteous and the lawless: and thou shalt not be afraid of wild beasts.

23For the wild beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

24Then shalt thou know that thy house shall be at peace, and the provision for thy tabernacle shall not fail.

25And thou shalt know that thy seed shall be abundant; and thy children shall be like the herbage of the field.

26And thou shalt come to the grave like ripe corn reaped in its season, or as a heap of the corn-flour collected in proper time.

27Behold, we have thus sought out these matters; these are what we have heard: but do thou reflect with thyself, if thou hast done anything wrong.