² “If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
    Yet who can keep from speaking?
³ Behold, you have instructed many,
    and you have ^(A)strengthened the weak hands.
⁴ Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
    and you have ^(B)made firm the feeble knees.
⁵ But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
    it touches you, and you are dismayed.
^6 (C)Is not your fear of God^[a] your ^(D)confidence,
    and the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷ “Remember: ^(E)who that was innocent ever perished?
    Or where were the upright cut off?
⁸ As I have seen, those who ^(F)plow iniquity
    and sow trouble reap the same.
⁹ By ^(G)the breath of God they perish,
    and by ^(H)the blast of his anger they are consumed.
¹⁰ The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
    ^(I)the teeth of the young lions are broken.
¹¹ The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,
    and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹² “Now a word was brought to me stealthily;
    my ear received ^(J)the whisper of it.
¹³ Amid ^(K)thoughts from ^(L)visions of the night,
    when ^(M)deep sleep falls on men,
¹⁴ dread came upon me, and trembling,
    which made all my bones shake.
¹⁵ A spirit glided past my face;
    the hair of my flesh stood up.
¹⁶ It stood still,
    but I could not discern its appearance.
^(N)A form was before my eyes;
    there was silence, then I heard ^(O)a voice:
^17 (P)‘Can mortal man be in the right before^[b] God?
    Can a man be pure before his Maker?
¹⁸ Even in his servants ^(Q)he puts no trust,
    and his angels he charges with error;
¹⁹ how much more those who dwell in houses of ^(R)clay,
    whose foundation is in ^(S)the dust,
    who are crushed like^{[c] (T)}the moth.
²⁰ Between ^(U)morning and evening they are beaten to pieces;
    they perish forever ^(V)without anyone regarding it.
²¹ Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them,
    ^(W)do they not die, and that without wisdom?’

5 “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
    To which of ^(A)the holy ones will you turn?
² Surely vexation kills the fool,
    and jealousy slays the simple.
^3 (B)I have seen the fool taking root,
    but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
⁴ His children are ^(C)far from safety;
    they are crushed in ^(D)the gate,
    and there is no one to deliver them.
⁵ The hungry eat his harvest,
    and he takes it even out of thorns,^[a]
    and the thirsty pant^[b] after his^[c] wealth.
⁶ For affliction does not come from the dust,
    nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
⁷ but man is ^(E)born to trouble
    as the sparks fly upward.

⁸ “As for me, I would seek God,
    and to God would I commit my cause,
⁹ who ^(F)does great things and ^(G)unsearchable,
    ^(H)marvelous things without number:
¹⁰ he gives ^(I)rain on the earth
    and sends waters on the fields;
¹¹ he ^(J)sets on high those who are lowly,
    and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
¹² He ^(K)frustrates the devices of the crafty,
    so that their hands achieve no success.
¹³ He ^(L)catches the wise in their own craftiness,
    and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime
    and ^(M)grope at noonday as in the night.
¹⁵ But he ^(N)saves the needy from the sword of their mouth
    and from the hand of the mighty.
¹⁶ So the poor have hope,
    and ^(O)injustice shuts her mouth.

¹⁷ “Behold, ^(P)blessed is the one whom God reproves;
    therefore ^(Q)despise not the discipline of the ^(R)Almighty.
¹⁸ For he wounds, but he ^(S)binds up;
    he ^(T)shatters, but his hands heal.
¹⁹ He will ^(U)deliver you from six troubles;
    in seven no ^(V)evil^[d] shall touch you.
^20 (W)In famine he will redeem you from death,
    and in war from the power of the sword.
²¹ You shall be ^(X)hidden from the lash of the tongue,
    and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
²² At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
    and shall not fear ^(Y)the beasts of the earth.
²³ For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
    and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
²⁴ You shall know that your ^(Z)tent is at peace,
    and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
²⁵ You shall know also that your ^(AA)offspring shall be many,
    and your descendants as ^(AB)the grass of the earth.
²⁶ You shall come to your grave in ^(AC)ripe old age,
    like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
²⁷ Behold, this we have ^(AD)searched out; it is true.
    Hear, and know it for your good.”^[e]