Job 5
1 “Call now; is there any who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
Call if you want, but who is going to answer you? Which angel are you going to turn to?
2 For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.
Surely anger slays the fool and jealousy kills the simple.
3 I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
I have seen a fool growing strong, but I immediately cursed his house.
4 His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,
His sons are never safe; they are crushed in court with no one to defend them.
5 whose harvest the hungry eat up, and take it even out of the thorns. The snare gapes for their substance.
The hungry eat everything he has harvested, taking even that protected by a thorn hedge, while others look to steal his wealth.
6 For affliction does not come out of the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground;
For evil doesn't come from the dust; neither does trouble grow from the earth.
7 but man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
But human beings are born for trouble just as certainly as sparks from a fire fly upwards.
8 “But as for me, I would seek God. I would commit my cause to God,
If it were me, I would go to God and put my case before him.
9 who does great things that cannot be fathomed, marvelous things without number;
He is the one who does amazing, incredible things; miracles that can't be counted!
10 who gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields;
He gives rain to the earth and sends water to the fields.
11 so that he sets up on high those who are low, those who mourn are exalted to safety.
He exalts the humble, and rescues those who mourn.
12 He frustrates the plans of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
He frustrates the plans of the cunning so that they are unsuccessful.
13 He takes the wise in their own craftiness; the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.
He traps the wise in their own clever thinking, and the schemes of twisted people are cut short.
14 They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope at noonday as in the night.
In the daytime they're in the dark, and they stumble around at noon like it's night.
15 But he saves from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty.
But God is the one who saves from their cutting remarks, and the poor from the actions of the powerful.
16 So the poor has hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.
As a result those who are helpless have hope, and the wicked have to shut their mouths!
17 “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
See how happy is the person God corrects—so don't despise the Almighty's discipline.
18 For he wounds and binds up. He injures and his hands make whole.
For he causes pain but he provides relief; he wounds but his hands heal.
19 He will deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven no evil will touch you.
He will save you from many disasters; a multitude of evils will not affect you.
20 In famine he will redeem you from death; in war, from the power of the sword.
In times of famine he will rescue you from death, and in times of war he will save you from the power of the sword.
21 You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, neither will you be afraid of destruction when it comes.
You will be protected from sharp-tongued slander; and when violence comes you will not be afraid.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine, neither will you be afraid of the animals of the earth.
You will laugh at violence and famine; you won't be afraid of wild animals—
23 For you will be allied with the stones of the field. The animals of the field will be at peace with you.
for you will be at peace with the stones of the field and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your tent is in peace. You will visit your fold, and will miss nothing.
You will be certain that your home is safe, for you will go to where you live and find nothing missing.
25 You will know also that your offspring will be great, your offspring as the grass of the earth.
You will also be sure that you will have many children; your descendants will be like the grass of the earth.
26 You will come to your grave in a full age, like a shock of grain comes in its season.
You will live to a ripe old age like a sheaf of grain when it is harvested.
27 Behold, we have researched it. It is so. Hear it, and know it for your good.”
Look, we've examined it, and it's true! Listen to what I'm saying and apply it to yourself!”
