1‘Call if you will, but who will answer you?

To which of the holy ones will you turn?

2Resentment kills a fool,

and envy slays the simple.

3I myself have seen a fool taking root,

but suddenly his house was cursed.

4His children are far from safety,

crushed in court without a defender.

5The hungry consume his harvest,

taking it even from among thorns,

and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

6For hardship does not spring from the soil,

nor does trouble sprout from the ground.

7Yet man is born to trouble

as surely as sparks fly upwards.

8‘But if I were you, I would appeal to God;

I would lay my cause before him.

9He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,

miracles that cannot be counted.

10He provides rain for the earth;

he sends water on the countryside.

11The lowly he sets on high,

and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

12He thwarts the plans of the crafty,

so that their hands achieve no success.

13He catches the wise in their craftiness,

and the schemes of the wily are swept away.

14Darkness comes upon them in the daytime;

at noon they grope as in the night.

15He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth;

he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.

16So the poor have hope,

and injustice shuts its mouth.

17‘Blessed is the one whom God corrects;

so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.5:17 Hebrew Shaddai; here and throughout Job

18For he wounds, but he also binds up;

he injures, but his hands also heal.

19From six calamities he will rescue you;

in seven no harm will touch you.

20In famine he will deliver you from death,

and in battle from the stroke of the sword.

21You will be protected from the lash of the tongue,

and need not fear when destruction comes.

22You will laugh at destruction and famine,

and need not fear the wild animals.

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

and the wild animals will be at peace with you.

24You will know that your tent is secure;

you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.

25You will know that your children will be many,

and your descendants like the grass of the earth.

26You will come to the grave in full vigour,

like sheaves gathered in season.

27‘We have examined this, and it is true.

So hear it and apply it to yourself.’