Job 5
1 “Call out if you please, but who will answer? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
Do but call: is there one that will answer thee? and to whom of the saints wilt thou turn thyself?
2 For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
For vexation will prove death to a foolish man, and jealousy will slay the simple.
3 I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.
I have myself seen the foolish taking root; but I suddenly held his habitation as accursed.
4 His sons are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.
His children are far from help, and men crush them in the gate, with no one to deliver them.
5 The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
[He it is] whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber snatcheth eagerly after their substance.
6 For distress does not spring from the dust, and trouble does not sprout from the ground.
For wrong doth not come forth out of the dust, neither doth trouble grow up out of the ground;
7 Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
But man is born unto trouble, as young birds take up their flight.
8 However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and lay my cause before Him—
I, however, would have besought God, and unto God would I have committed my cause;
9 the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.
Who doth great things which are unsearchable, marvelous things till they are without number;
10 He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields.
Who giveth rain upon the surface of the earth, and sendeth out waters over the face of the fields;
11 He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety.
To set up the lowly on high, that those who mourn may rise high to happiness;
12 He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
[But] who frustrateth the plans of the crafty, so that their hands cannot execute their well-devised counsel;
13 He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.
Who catcheth the wise in their own craftiness; and the advise of the perverse is hastened on headlong;
14 They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.
By day they meet with darkness, and as though it were night they grope about in the noon of day;
15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth and from the clutches of the powerful.
But who saveth from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty, the needy one:
16 So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
And so cometh to the indigent hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
17 Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
Behold, happy is the man whom God admonisheth: despise then not the correction of the Almighty.
18 For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.
For he it is that woundeth, and bindeth up: he smiteth, and his hands do heal.
19 He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven.
In six distresses will he deliver thee; and in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
20 In famine He will redeem you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
In famine he redeemeth thee from death; and in war from the power of the sword.
21 You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and will not fear havoc when it comes.
Against the scourge of the tongue shall thou he hidden; and thou needest not be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth.
At destruction and famine canst thou laugh; and thou needest not have any fear of 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.
For with the stones of the field shalt thou have thy covenant; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
24 You will know that your tent is secure, and find nothing amiss when inspecting your home.
And thou shalt know that there is peace in thy tent; and thou wilt look over thy habitation, and shalt miss nothing.
25 You will know that your offspring will be many, your descendants like the grass of the earth.
And thou shalt know that thy seed is numerous, and thy offspring as the herbage of the earth.
26 You will come to the grave in full vigor, like a sheaf of grain gathered in season.
Thon wilt go in a ripe age unto the grave, as a shock of corn is carried home in its season.
27 Indeed, we have investigated, and it is true! So hear it and know for yourself.”
Behold this, we have searched it out, so it is: hear it, and do thou note it well for thyself.
