< Job 5 >
1 Therfor clepe thou, if `ony is that schal answere thee, and turne thou to summe of seyntis.
Call now, see if any will answer thee! And to which of the holy ones wilt thou look?
2 Wrathfulnesse sleeth `a fonned man, and enuye sleeth a litil child.
Verily grief destroyeth the fool, And wrath consumeth the weak man.
3 Y siy a fool with stidefast rote, and Y curside his feirnesse anoon.
I have seen an impious man taking root, But soon I cursed his habitation.
4 Hise sones schulen be maad fer fro helthe, and thei schulen be defoulid in the yate, and `noon schal be that schal delyuere hem.
His children are far from safety; They are oppressed at the gate, and there is none to deliver them.
5 Whos ripe corn an hungri man schal ete, and an armed man schal rauysche hym, and thei, that thirsten, schulen drynke hise richessis.
His harvest the hungry devour, Carrying it even through the thorns; And a snare gapeth after his substance.
6 No thing is doon in erthe with out cause, and sorewe schal not go out of the erthe.
For affliction cometh not from the dust, Nor doth trouble spring up from the ground;
7 A man is borun to labour, and a brid to fliyt.
Behold, man is born to trouble, As the sparks fly upward.
8 Wherfor Y schal biseche the Lord, and Y schal sette my speche to my God.
I would look to God, And to God would I commit my cause,
9 That makith grete thingis, and that moun not be souyt out, and wondurful thingis with out noumbre.
Who doeth great things and unsearchable; Yea, marvellous things without number;
10 Which yyueth reyn on the face of erthe, and moistith alle thingis with watris.
Who giveth rain upon the earth, And sendeth water upon the fields;
11 Which settith meke men an hiy, and reisith with helthe hem that morenen.
Who placeth the lowly in high places, And restoreth the afflicted to prosperity;
12 Which distrieth the thouytis of yuel willid men, that her hondis moun not fille tho thingis that thei bigunnen.
Who disappointeth the devices of the crafty, So that their hands cannot perform their enterprises;
13 Which takith cautelouse men in the felnesse `of hem, and distrieth the counsel of schrewis.
Who taketh the wise in their own craftiness, And bringeth to nought the counsel of the artful.
14 Bi dai thei schulen renne in to derknessis, and as in nyyt so thei schulen grope in myddai.
They meet with darkness in the daytime; They grope at noon as if it were night.
15 Certis God schal make saaf a nedi man fro the swerd of her mouth, and a pore man fro the hond of the violent, `ethir rauynour.
So he saveth the persecuted from their mouth; The oppressed from the hand of the mighty.
16 And hope schal be to a nedi man, but wickidnesse schal drawe togidere his mouth.
So the poor hath hope, And iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
17 Blessid is the man, which is chastisid of the Lord; therfor repreue thou not the blamyng of the Lord.
Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth; Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.
18 For he woundith, and doith medicyn; he smytith, and hise hondis schulen make hool.
For he bruiseth, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and his hands make whole.
19 In sixe tribulaciouns he schal delyuere thee, and in the seuenthe tribulacioun yuel schal not touche thee.
In six troubles will he deliver thee; Yea, in seven shall no evil touch thee.
20 In hungur he schal delyuere thee fro deeth, and in batel fro the power of swerd.
In famine he will redeem thee from death, And in war from the power of the sword.
21 Thou schalt be hid fro the scourge of tunge, and thou schalt not drede myseiste, `ethir wretchidnesse, whanne it cometh.
Thou shalt be safe from the scourge of the tongue, And shalt not be afraid of destruction, when it cometh.
22 In distriyng maad of enemyes and in hungur thou schalt leiye, and thou schalt not drede the beestis of erthe.
At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, And of the wild beasts of the land shalt thou not be afraid.
23 But thi couenaunt schal be with the stonys of erthe, and beestis of erthe schulen be pesible to thee.
For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; Yea, the beasts of the forest shall be at peace with thee.
24 And thou schalt wite, that thi tabernacle hath pees, and thou visitynge thi fairnesse schalt not do synne.
Thou shalt find that thy tent is in peace; Thou shalt visit thy dwelling, and not be disappointed.
25 And thou schalt wite also, that thi seed schal be many fold, and thi generacioun schal be as an erbe of erthe.
Thou shalt see thy descendants numerous, And thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
26 In abundaunce thou schalt go in to the sepulcre, as an heep of wheete is borun in his tyme.
Thou shalt come to thy grave in full age, As a shock of corn gathered in its season.
27 Lo! this is so, as we han souyt; which thing herd, trete thou in minde.
Lo! this we have searched out; so it is: Hear it, and lay it up in thy mind!