5:1 | "Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? |
5:2 | Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. |
5:3 | I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. |
5:4 | His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. |
5:5 | The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. |
5:6 | For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. |
5:7 | Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. |
5:8 | "But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him. |
5:9 | He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. |
5:10 | He bestows rain on the earth; he sends water upon the countryside. |
5:11 | The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. |
5:12 | He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. |
5:13 | He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away. |
5:14 | Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night. |
5:15 | He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful. |
5:16 | So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. |
5:17 | "Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. |
5:18 | For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal. |
5:19 | From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will befall you. |
5:20 | In famine he will ransom you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. |
5:21 | You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes. |
5:22 | You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth. |
5:23 | For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. |
5:24 | You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing. |
5:25 | You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth. |
5:26 | You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season. |
5:27 | "We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself." |
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