Job 5
1 Pray, call, is there any to answer thee? And unto which of the holy ones dost thou turn?
Give now a cry for help; is there anyone who will give you an answer? and to which of the holy ones will you make your prayer?
2 For provocation slayeth the perverse, And envy putteth to death the simple,
For wrath is the cause of death to the foolish, and he who has no wisdom comes to his end through passion.
3 I — I have seen the perverse taking root, And I mark his habitation straightway,
I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly the curse came on his house.
4 Far are his sons from safety, And they are bruised in the gate, And there is no deliverer.
Now his children have no safe place, and they are crushed before the judges, for no one takes up their cause.
5 Whose harvest the hungry doth eat, And even from the thorns taketh it, And the designing swallowed their wealth.
Their produce is taken by him who has no food, and their grain goes to the poor, and he who is in need of water gets it from their spring.
6 For sorrow cometh not forth from the dust, Nor from the ground springeth up misery.
For evil does not come out of the dust, or trouble out of the earth;
7 For man to misery is born, And the sparks go high to fly.
But trouble is man's fate from birth, as the flames go up from the fire.
8 Yet I — I inquire for God, And for God I give my word,
But as for me, I would make my prayer to God, and I would put my cause before him:
9 Doing great things, and there is no searching. Wonderful, till there is no numbering.
Who does great things outside our knowledge, wonders without number:
10 Who is giving rain on the face of the land, And is sending waters on the out-places.
Who gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields:
11 To set the low on a high place, And the mourners have been high [in] safety.
Lifting up those who are low, and putting the sad in a safe place;
12 Making void thoughts of the subtile, And their hands do not execute wisdom.
Who makes the designs of the wise go wrong, so that they are unable to give effect to their purposes.
13 Capturing the wise in their subtilty, And the counsel of wrestling ones was hastened,
He takes the wise in their secret designs, and the purposes of the twisted are cut off suddenly.
14 By day they meet darkness, And as night — they grope at noon.
In the daytime it becomes dark for them, and in the sunlight they go feeling about as if it was night.
15 And He saveth the wasted from their mouth, And from a strong hand the needy,
But he keeps safe from their sword those who have no father, and the poor from the power of the strong.
16 And there is hope to the poor, And perverseness hath shut her mouth.
So the poor man has hope, and the mouth of the evil-doer is stopped.
17 Lo, the happiness of mortal man, God doth reprove him: And the chastisement of the Mighty despise not,
Truly, that man is happy who has training from the hand of God: so do not let your heart be shut to the teaching of the Ruler of all.
18 For He doth pain, and He bindeth up, He smiteth, and His hands heal.
For after his punishment he gives comfort, and after wounding, his hands make you well.
19 In six distresses He delivereth thee, And in seven evil striketh not on thee.
He will keep you safe from six troubles, and in seven no evil will come near you.
20 In famine He hath redeemed thee from death, And in battle from the hands of the sword.
When there is need of food he will keep you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.
21 When the tongue scourgeth thou art hid, And thou art not afraid of destruction, When it cometh.
He will keep you safe from the evil tongue; and you will have no fear of wasting when it comes.
22 At destruction and at hunger thou mockest, And of the beast of the earth, Thou art not afraid.
You will make sport of destruction and need, and will have no fear of the beasts of the earth.
23 (For with sons of the field [is] thy covenant, And the beast of the field Hath been at peace with thee.)
For you will be in agreement with the stones of the earth, and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.
24 And thou hast known that thy tent [is] peace, And inspected thy habitation, and errest not,
And you will be certain that your tent is at peace, and after looking over your property you will see that nothing is gone.
25 And hast known that numerous [is] Thy seed, And thine offspring as the herb of the earth;
You will be certain that your seed will be great, and your offspring like the plants of the earth.
26 Thou comest in full age unto the grave, As the going up of a stalk in its season.
You will come to your last resting-place in full strength, as the grain is taken up to the crushing-floor in its time.
27 Lo, this — we searched it out — it [is] right, hearken; And thou, know for thyself!
See, we have made search with care, and it is so; it has come to our ears; see that you take note of it for yourself.
