1 “Call out if you please, but who will answer? To which of the holy ones will you turn? | TOSK |
2 For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. | TOSK |
3 I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. | TOSK |
4 His sons are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. | TOSK |
5 The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. | TOSK |
6 For distress does not spring from the dust, and trouble does not sprout from the ground. | TOSK |
7 Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. | TOSK |
8 However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and lay my cause before Him— | TOSK |
9 the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number. | IP | TOSK |
10 He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields. | TOSK |
11 He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety. | IP | TOSK |
12 He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success. | TOSK |
13 He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning. | IP | TOSK |
14 They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night. | TOSK |
15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth and from the clutches of the powerful. | TOSK |
16 So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. | TOSK |
17 Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. | TOSK |
18 For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal. | TOSK |
19 He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven. | TOSK |
20 In famine He will redeem you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. | TOSK |
21 You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and will not fear havoc when it comes. | TOSK |
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth. | TOSK |
23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. | TOSK |
24 You will know that your tent is secure, and find nothing amiss when inspecting your home. | TOSK |
25 You will know that your offspring will be many, your descendants like the grass of the earth. | TOSK |
26 You will come to the grave in full vigor, like a sheaf of grain gathered in season. | TOSK |
27 Indeed, we have investigated, and it is true! So hear it and know for yourself.” | TOSK |