< Job 5 >
1 Call now, if there be any that will answer you; and to which of the saints will you turn?
Pray, call, is there any to answer thee? And unto which of the holy ones dost thou turn?
2 For wrath kills the foolish man, and envy slays the silly one.
For provocation slayeth the perverse, And envy putteth to death the simple,
3 I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
I — I have seen the perverse taking root, And I mark his habitation straightway,
4 His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
Far are his sons from safety, And they are bruised in the gate, And there is no deliverer.
5 Whose harvest the hungry eats up, and takes it even out of the thorns, and the robber swallows up their substance.
Whose harvest the hungry doth eat, And even from the thorns taketh it, And the designing swallowed their wealth.
6 Although affliction comes not out of the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground;
For sorrow cometh not forth from the dust, Nor from the ground springeth up misery.
7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
For man to misery is born, And the sparks go high to fly.
8 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
Yet I — I inquire for God, And for God I give my word,
9 Which does great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
Doing great things, and there is no searching. Wonderful, till there is no numbering.
10 Who gives rain upon the earth, and sends waters upon the fields:
Who is giving rain on the face of the land, And is sending waters on the out-places.
11 To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
To set the low on a high place, And the mourners have been high [in] safety.
12 He dissapoints the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
Making void thoughts of the subtile, And their hands do not execute wisdom.
13 He takes the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the perverse is carried headlong.
Capturing the wise in their subtilty, And the counsel of wrestling ones was hastened,
14 They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
By day they meet darkness, And as night — they grope at noon.
15 But he saves the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
And He saveth the wasted from their mouth, And from a strong hand the needy,
16 So the poor has hope, and iniquity stops her mouth.
And there is hope to the poor, And perverseness hath shut her mouth.
17 Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects: therefore despise not you the chastening of the Almighty:
Lo, the happiness of mortal man, God doth reprove him: And the chastisement of the Mighty despise not,
18 For he makes sore, and binds up: he wounds, and his hands make whole.
For He doth pain, and He bindeth up, He smiteth, and His hands heal.
19 He shall deliver you in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch you.
In six distresses He delivereth thee, And in seven evil striketh not on thee.
20 In famine he shall redeem you from death: and in war from the power of the sword.
In famine He hath redeemed thee from death, And in battle from the hands of the sword.
21 You shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes.
When the tongue scourgeth thou art hid, And thou art not afraid of destruction, When it cometh.
22 At destruction and famine you shall laugh: neither shall you be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
At destruction and at hunger thou mockest, And of the beast of the earth, Thou art not afraid.
23 For you shall be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
(For with sons of the field [is] thy covenant, And the beast of the field Hath been at peace with thee.)
24 And you shall know that your tabernacle shall be in peace; and you shall visit your habitation, and shall not sin.
And thou hast known that thy tent [is] peace, And inspected thy habitation, and errest not,
25 You shall know also that your seed shall be great, and your offspring as the grass of the earth.
And hast known that numerous [is] Thy seed, And thine offspring as the herb of the earth;
26 You shall come to your grave in a full age, like a shock of corn comes in in his season.
Thou comest in full age unto the grave, As the going up of a stalk in its season.
27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know you it for your good.
Lo, this — we searched it out — it [is] right, hearken; And thou, know for thyself!