1 “Call if you like, but will anyone answer?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2 For anger kills the fool,
and envy slays the silly.
3 I watch as a fool establishes roots,
but I curse his home with sudden [destruction] —
4 his children are far from help,
publicly humiliated, with no one to rescue;
5 the hungry eat up his harvest,
taking it even from among thorns,
while the thirsty are panting,
eager to swallow his wealth.
6 For misery does not come from the dust
or trouble spring from the ground.
7 No, people are born for trouble
as surely as sparks fly upward.
8 “If I were you, I would seek God;
I would make my plea to him.
9 For God does great deeds beyond investigation,
wonders beyond all reckoning.
10 He gives rain to the earth,
pours water down on the fields.
11 He raises the lowly on high
and lifts mourners to safety.
12 He frustrates the schemes of the cunning,
so that they achieve no success;
13 trapping the crafty in their own tricks
and foiling quickly the plans of the false.
14 They meet with darkness during the day,
groping at noon like at night.
15 But he saves the poor from the sword, their mouth,
and from the clutches of the strong;
16 so the poor can hope again;
and injustice shuts its mouth.
17 “How happy the person whom God corrects!
So don’t despiseShaddai’s discipline.
18 For he wounds, but he bandages the sore;
his hands may strike, but they also heal.
19 He will rescue you from six disasters;
yes, in seven no harm will touch you.
20 In famine, he will save you from death,
and in war, from the power of the sword.
21 You will be shielded from the lash of the tongue,
and you won’t have to fear destruction when it comes —
22 you’ll be able to laugh at destruction and famine.
Also you won’t have to fear wild animals,
23 for you will be in league with the stones in the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your tent is safe;
you will look round your home and miss nothing.
25 You will know that your descendants are many,
your offspring like grass [growing thick] in the fields.
26 You will come to your grave at a ripe old age,
like a pile of grain that arrives in season.
27 “We’ve looked into this, and that’s how it is;
listen, and know that it’s for your own good.”