Job 5
1 Call now, is there any who will answer thee? And to which of the holy ones will thou turn?
“Job, [it is okay that you] continue to cry out for someone to help you, but [I am certain that] [RHQ] no angel will come to help you!
2 For vexation kills the foolish man, and jealousy slays the silly one.
Foolish people die because of being (resentful/very angry at someone); people who are easily deceived are destroyed by their being jealous [of others].
3 I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
I have seen foolish people who seemed to be successful/prosperous, but suddenly [they experienced disaster/trouble because] someone cursed their home.
4 His sons are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,
Their sons are never safe; they (lose their case/are condemned) when someone (takes them to court/sues them), because there is no one to defend them.
5 whose harvest the hungry eat up, and takes it even out of the thorns, and the snare gapes for their substance.
Hungry people [steal] the crops that foolish people harvest, [and] eat [those crops]; they even steal the crops that grow among thorns, and greedy people take away the wealth of foolish people.
6 For affliction does not come forth from the dust, nor does trouble spring out of the ground,
But evil circumstances/sufferings are not produced by the soil; troubles do not grow up from the ground.
7 but man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
People have troubles from the time that they are born just as surely as sparks shoot up [from a fire].
8 But as for me, I would seek to God. And to God I would commit my cause,
[“If I were suffering like you are, ] I would ask God [for help] and tell him (what I am complaining about/about my suffering).
9 who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number,
He does great things, things that we cannot understand; we cannot even count the marvelous things that he does.
10 who gives rain upon the earth, and sends waters upon the fields,
He sends rain on the ground; he sends water on our fields.
11 so that he sets up on high those who are low, and those who mourn are exalted to safety.
He exalts those who are humble, and causes those who mourn to be joyful (OR, safe, prosperous).
12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
He causes crafty/cunning people to not be able to do what they plan to do, with the result that they achieve nothing.
13 He takes the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.
He causes people who [think that they] [IRO] are wise to be trapped by the cunning things they try to do, with the result that they do not succeed.
14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at noonday as in the night.
[It is as though] even in the daytime they are covered by darkness, and grope around [trying to find the road] at noontime like people do at night.
15 But he saves from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty.
But God saves helpless people from being harmed by what [wicked people] say [MTY], he saves needy people from being injured by [MTY] powerful people.
16 So a poor man has hope, and iniquity stops her mouth.
So, poor people confidently expect [that good things will happen to them] but God causes wicked [people] to stop talking.
17 Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise thou the chastening of the Almighty.
“But those whom God corrects/rebukes are happy; so do not despise/dislike it when [God] who is all-powerful disciplines you.
18 For he injures, and binds up. He wounds, and his hands make whole.
He wounds people, but then he puts bandages on those wounds; he hurts people, but he [SYN] also heals them.
19 He will deliver thee in six troubles. Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
He will rescue you many times from your troubles, with the result that nothing evil will happen to you.
20 In famine he will redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword.
When there is a famine, he will not allow you to die, and when there is a war, you will not be killed [MTY].
21 Thou shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue. Neither shall thou be afraid of destruction when it comes.
God will protect you when people slander [MTY] you; you will not be afraid when many things [around you] are destroyed.
22 At destruction and dearth thou shall laugh, nor shall thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
You will [be able to] laugh/scoff when things are destroyed and when there is famine, and you will not be afraid of wild animals.
23 For thou shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
You will not worry about [having big] rocks in your fields [that will make plowing difficult], and you will not worry about [being attacked by] wild animals there.
24 And thou shall know that thy tent is in peace, and thou shall visit thy fold, and shall miss nothing.
In your tent, you will know that things will go well for you, and when you look at your livestock, you will see that (they are all there/none of them is missing).
25 Thou shall know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
You will be sure that you will have many descendants, who will be as numerous as blades of grass.
26 Thou shall come to thy grave in a full age, like a shock of grain comes in its season.
You will become very old before you die, like sheaves of grain continue to grow until it is time to harvest them.
27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is. Hear it, and know thou it for thy good.
[“My friends and I] have thought carefully about these things, and [we know that] they are true, so pay attention to what I have said!”
