² “If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
    But who can keep from speaking?^(B)
3 Think how you have instructed many,^(C)
    how you have strengthened feeble hands.^(D)
4 Your words have supported those who stumbled;^(E)
    you have strengthened faltering knees.^(F)
5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;^(G)
    it strikes^(H) you, and you are dismayed.^(I)
6 Should not your piety be your confidence^(J)
    and your blameless^(K) ways your hope?

⁷ “Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?^(L)
    Where were the upright ever destroyed?^(M)

⁸ “But if I were you, I would appeal to God;
    I would lay my cause before him.^(A)
9 He performs wonders^(B) that cannot be fathomed,^(C)
    miracles that cannot be counted.^(D)
10 He provides rain for the earth;^(E)
    he sends water on the countryside.^(F)
11 The lowly he sets on high,^(G)
    and those who mourn^(H) are lifted^(I) to safety.
¹² He thwarts the plans^(J) of the crafty,
    so that their hands achieve no success.^(K)
13 He catches the wise^(L) in their craftiness,^(M)
    and the schemes of the wily are swept away.^(N)
14 Darkness^(O) comes upon them in the daytime;
    at noon they grope as in the night.^(P)
15 He saves the needy^(Q) from the sword in their mouth;
    he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.^(R)
16 So the poor^(S) have hope,
    and injustice shuts its mouth.^(T)

¹⁷ “Blessed is the one whom God corrects;^(U)
    so do not despise the discipline^(V) of the Almighty.^[a](W)
18 For he wounds, but he also binds up;^(X)
    he injures, but his hands also heal.^(Y)
19 From six calamities he will rescue^(Z) you;
    in seven no harm will touch you.^(AA)
20 In famine^(AB) he will deliver you from death,
    and in battle from the stroke of the sword.^(AC)
21 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue,^(AD)
    and need not fear^(AE) when destruction comes.^(AF)
22 You will laugh^(AG) at destruction and famine,^(AH)
    and need not fear the wild animals.^(AI)
23 For you will have a covenant^(AJ) with the stones^(AK) of the field,
    and the wild animals will be at peace with you.^(AL)
24 You will know that your tent is secure;^(AM)
    you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.^(AN)
25 You will know that your children will be many,^(AO)
    and your descendants like the grass of the earth.^(AP)
26 You will come to the grave in full vigor,^(AQ)
    like sheaves gathered in season.^(AR)

²⁷ “We have examined this, and it is true.
    So hear it^(AS) and apply it to yourself.”^(AT)