Job 5

1 Do but call: is there one that will answer thee? and to whom of the saints wilt thou turn thyself?

Call out now; is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?

2 For vexation will prove death to a foolish man, and jealousy will slay the simple.

For anger kills the foolish man; jealousy kills the silly one.

3 I have myself seen the foolish taking root; but I suddenly held his habitation as accursed.

I have seen a foolish person taking root, but suddenly I cursed his home.

4 His children are far from help, and men crush them in the gate, with no one to deliver them.

His children are far from safety; they are crushed in the city gate. There is no one to rescue them.

5 [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.

The hungry eat up their harvest; they even take it from among the thorns. The thirsty pant for their wealth.

6 For wrong doth not come forth out of the dust, neither doth trouble grow up out of the ground;

For difficulties do not come out from the soil; neither does trouble sprout from the ground.

7 But man is born unto trouble, as young birds take up their flight.

Instead, mankind is born for trouble, just as sparks fly upward.

8 I, however, would have besought God, and unto God would I have committed my cause;

But as for me, I would turn to God himself; to him I would commit my cause—

9 Who doth great things which are unsearchable, marvelous things till they are without number;

he who does great and unsearchable things, marvelous things without number.

10 Who giveth rain upon the surface of the earth, and sendeth out waters over the face of the fields;

He gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields.

11 To set up the lowly on high, that those who mourn may rise high to happiness;

He does this in order to set up on high those who are low; to raise to safety those who mourn.

12 [But] who frustrateth the plans of the crafty, so that their hands cannot execute their well-devised counsel;

He breaks the plans of the crafty people, so that their hands cannot achieve success.

13 Who catcheth the wise in their own craftiness; and the advise of the perverse is hastened on headlong;

He traps wise people in their own crafty actions; the plans of twisted people are hurried to their end.

14 By day they meet with darkness, and as though it were night they grope about in the noon of day;

They encounter darkness in the daytime, and grope at noonday as if it were night.

15 But who saveth from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty, the needy one:

But he saves the poor person from the sword in their mouths and the needy person from the hand of mighty people.

16 And so cometh to the indigent hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

So the poor person has hope, and injustice shuts her own mouth.

17 Behold, happy is the man whom God admonisheth: despise then not the correction of the Almighty.

See, blessed is the man whom God corrects; therefore, do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.

18 For he it is that woundeth, and bindeth up: he smiteth, and his hands do heal.

For he wounds and then binds up; he wounds and then his hands heal.

19 In six distresses will he deliver thee; and in seven there shall no evil touch thee.

He will rescue you out of six troubles; indeed, in seven troubles, no evil will touch you.

20 In famine he redeemeth thee from death; and in war from the power of the sword.

In famine he will ransom you from death, and in war from the hands of the sword.

21 Against the scourge of the tongue shall thou he hidden; and thou needest not be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue; and you will not be afraid of destruction when it comes.

22 At destruction and famine canst thou laugh; and thou needest not have any fear of the beasts of the earth.

You will laugh at destruction and famine, and you will not be afraid of beasts of the earth.

23 For with the stones of the field shalt thou have thy covenant; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

For you will have a covenant with the stones in your field, and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

24 And thou shalt know that there is peace in thy tent; and thou wilt look over thy habitation, and shalt miss nothing.

You will know that your tent is in safety; you will visit your sheepfold and you will not miss anything.

25 And thou shalt know that thy seed is numerous, and thy offspring as the herbage of the earth.

You will also know that your seed will be great, that your offspring will be like the grass on the ground.

26 Thon wilt go in a ripe age unto the grave, as a shock of corn is carried home in its season.

You will come to your grave at a full age, like a stack of grain bundles that goes up at its time.

27 Behold this, we have searched it out, so it is: hear it, and do thou note it well for thyself.

See, we have examined this matter; it is like this; listen to it, and know it for yourself.”