1Call, I pray thee! Is there any that answereth thee? and to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn?

2For vexation killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the simple.

3I myself saw the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

4His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer:

5Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh even out of the thorns; and the snare gapeth for his substance.

6For evil cometh not forth from the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;

7For man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upwards.

8But as for me I will seek unto ¹⁵God, and unto ¹⁶God commit my cause;

9Who doeth great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number;

10Who giveth rain on the face of the earth, and sendeth waters on the face of the fields;

11Setting up on high those that are low; and mourners are exalted to prosperity.

12He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, and their hands carry not out the enterprise.

13He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the wily is carried headlong:

14They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at midday as in the night.

15And he saveth the needy from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.

16So the poor hath what he hopeth for, and unrighteousness stoppeth her mouth.

17Behold, happy is the man whom ¹⁷God correcteth; therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty.

18For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; he woundeth, and his hands make whole.

19He will deliver thee in six troubles, and in seven there shall no evil touch thee.

20In famine he will redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

21Thou shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue; and thou shalt not be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

22At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, and of the beasts of the earth thou shalt not be afraid.

23For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

24And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace; and thou wilt survey thy fold, and miss nothing.

25And thou shalt know that thy seed is numerous, and thine offspring as the herb of the earth.

26Thou shalt come to the grave in a ripe age, as a shock of corn is brought in in its season.

27Behold this, we have searched it out, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thyself.