¹ “Call out now if you so wish.
    Is there anyone who will reply?
    To which of the holy ones^[b] will you turn?
² Resentment slays the fool,
    and envy brings death to the simpleton.
³ I have seen a fool enjoy success for a time,
    but suddenly his house was cursed.
⁴ “His children are cut off from safety,
    slaughtered at the gate^[c] without a defender.
⁵ The hungry devour their harvest,
    even that growing amid the thorns,^[d]
    and the thirsty pant for their wealth.
⁶ For misery does not grow out of the earth,
    nor does trouble spring from the soil.
⁷ Rather, man breeds trouble for himself,
    as surely as sparks^[e] fly upward.

⁸ “If I were you, I would appeal to God
    and present my case before him.
⁹ He performs deeds that are beyond understanding,
    and wonders that cannot be counted.
¹⁰ He provides rain for the earth
    and sends down water upon the fields.
¹¹ He raises on high those who are lowly,
    and those who mourn he lifts to safety.
¹² “He thwarts the schemes of the crafty
    so that they do not achieve any success.
¹³ He traps the cunning in their intrigues
    and throws their plans into disarray.
¹⁴ They encounter darkness in the daytime
    and grope their way at noon as if it were night.
¹⁵ But he saves the destitute from the sword
    and rescues them from the hand of the mighty.
¹⁶ Therefore, the poor once again have hope,
    and iniquity must shut its mouth.

¹⁷ “Blessed is the man whom God^[h] reproves.
    Therefore, do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.
¹⁸ For even though he wounds, he also binds up;
    he smites, but his hands also heal.
¹⁹ He will deliver you from trouble six times,
    and on the seventh^[i] no evil will touch you.
²⁰ In time of famine he will rescue you from death,
    and in wartime from the thrust of the sword.
²¹ “You will be shielded from the scourge of the tongue,
    and you will not fear calamity when it looms.
²² You will laugh at destruction and famine
    and not be terrified by the beasts of the earth.
²³ For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field
    and live in peace with wild animals.
²⁴ You will know that your tent is secure,
    and your household will be intact when you inspect it.
²⁵ “You will know that your descendants will be numerous,
    and your offspring like the grass of the earth.
²⁶ You will go to the grave at a ripe old age,
    like sheaves gathered at the right time.
²⁷ All this we have researched, and it is true.
    Heed it, and apply it to yourself.”