[1]Call, I pray thee! Is there any that answereth thee? and to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn?
[2]For vexation killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the simple.
[3]I myself saw the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
[4]His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer:
[5]Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh even out of the thorns; and the snare gapeth for his substance.
[6]For evil cometh not forth from the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
[7]For man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upwards.
[8]But as for me I will seek unto ùGod, and unto God commit my cause;
[9]Who doeth great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number;
[10]Who giveth rain on the face of the earth, and sendeth waters on the face of the fields;
[11]Setting up on high those that are low; and mourners are exalted to prosperity.
[12]He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, and their hands carry not out the enterprise.
[13]He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the wily is carried headlong:
[14]They meet with darkness in a the daytime, and grope at midday as in the night.
[15]And he saveth the needy from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
[16]So the poor hath what he hopeth for, and unrighteousness stoppeth her mouth.
[17]Behold, happy is the man whom +God correcteth; therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty.
[18]For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; he woundeth, and his hands make whole.
[19]He will deliver thee in six troubles, and in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
[20]In famine he will redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword.
[21]Thou shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue; and thou shalt not be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
[22]At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, and of the beasts of the earth thou shalt not be afraid.
[23]For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
[24]And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace; and thou wilt survey thy fold, and miss nothing.
[25]And thou shalt know that thy seed is numerous, and thine offspring as the herb of the earth.
[26]Thou shalt come to the grave in a ripe age, as a shock of corn is brought in in its season.
[27]Behold this, we have searched it out, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thyself.
|