Job

¹ “Call out if you please, but who will answer?

To which of the holy ones will you turn?

² For resentment kills a fool,

and envy slays the simple.

³ I have seen a fool taking root,

but suddenly his house was cursed.

⁴ His sons are far from safety,

crushed in court without a defender.

⁵ The hungry consume his harvest,

taking it even from the thorns,

and the thirsty pant after his wealth. ^[a]

⁶ For distress does not spring from the dust,

and trouble does not sprout from the ground.

⁷ Yet man is born to trouble

as surely as sparks fly upward.

⁸ However, if I were you, I would appeal to God

and lay my cause before Him—

⁹ the One who does great and unsearchable things,

wonders without number.

¹⁰ He gives rain to the earth

and sends water upon the fields.

¹¹ He sets the lowly on high,

so that mourners are lifted to safety.

¹² He thwarts the schemes of the crafty,

so that their hands find no success.

¹³ He catches the wise in their craftiness, ^[b]

and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.

¹⁴ They encounter darkness by day

and grope at noon as in the night.

¹⁵ He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth

and from the clutches of the powerful.

¹⁶ So the poor have hope,

and injustice shuts its mouth.

¹⁷ Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects;

so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. ^[c]

¹⁸ For He wounds, but He also binds;

He strikes, but His hands also heal.

¹⁹ He will rescue you from six calamities;

no harm will touch you in seven.

²⁰ In famine He will redeem you from death,

and in battle from the stroke of the sword.

²¹ You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,

and will not fear havoc when it comes.

²² You will laugh at destruction and famine,

and need not fear the beasts of the earth.

²³ For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,

and the wild animals will be at peace with you.

²⁴ You will know that your tent is secure,

and find nothing amiss when inspecting your home.

²⁵ You will know that your offspring will be many,

your descendants like the grass of the earth.

²⁶ You will come to the grave in full vigor,

like a sheaf of grain gathered in season.

²⁷ Indeed, we have investigated, and it is true!

So hear it and know for yourself.”