Job 5
1 Therefore call, if there are any who will respond to you, and turn to one or another of the saints.
Call now, see if any will answer thee! And to which of the holy ones wilt thou look?
2 Truly, anger condemns the foolish to death, and envy kills the petty.
Verily grief destroyeth the fool, And wrath consumeth the weak man.
3 I have seen a fool with a strong root, and I have cursed his excellence without hesitation.
I have seen an impious man taking root, But soon I cursed his habitation.
4 His sons will be far from prosperity and will be crushed at the gate, and there will be none who can rescue them.
His children are far from safety; They are oppressed at the gate, and there is none to deliver them.
5 Their harvest, the starving will eat. The armed man will rob him, and the thirsty will drink his resources.
His harvest the hungry devour, Carrying it even through the thorns; And a snare gapeth after his substance.
6 Nothing on earth occurs without a reason, and sorrow does not rise from the earth.
For affliction cometh not from the dust, Nor doth trouble spring up from the ground;
7 Man is born to labor, and the bird to fly.
Behold, man is born to trouble, As the sparks fly upward.
8 Therefore, because of this, I will beg the Lord, and place my eloquence before God.
I would look to God, And to God would I commit my cause,
9 He does great and unfathomable and miraculous things without number.
Who doeth great things and unsearchable; Yea, marvellous things without number;
10 He gives rain over the face of the earth and irrigates all things with the waters.
Who giveth rain upon the earth, And sendeth water upon the fields;
11 He places the humble on high and encourages the grieving towards health.
Who placeth the lowly in high places, And restoreth the afflicted to prosperity;
12 He dispels the thoughts of the spiteful, lest their hands be able to complete what they had begun.
Who disappointeth the devices of the crafty, So that their hands cannot perform their enterprises;
13 He catches the wise in their cleverness and dissipates the counsel of the perverse.
Who taketh the wise in their own craftiness, And bringeth to nought the counsel of the artful.
14 They will encounter darkness in the daytime, and they will grope at midday just as in the night.
They meet with darkness in the daytime; They grope at noon as if it were night.
15 Thereafter, he will act to save the needy from the sword of their mouth, and the poor from the hand of the violent.
So he saveth the persecuted from their mouth; The oppressed from the hand of the mighty.
16 And there will be hope for those in need, for iniquity will diminish its speech.
So the poor hath hope, And iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
17 Blessed is the man whom God corrects; therefore, do not reject the chastisement of the Lord.
Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth; Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.
18 For he wounds and he cures; he strikes and his hands will heal.
For he bruiseth, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and his hands make whole.
19 He will deliver you into six tribulations, and in the seventh, evil will not touch you.
In six troubles will he deliver thee; Yea, in seven shall no evil touch thee.
20 During famine, he will rescue you from death, and during war, from the hand of the sword.
In famine he will redeem thee from death, And in war from the power of the sword.
21 You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and you will not fear calamity when it arrives.
Thou shalt be safe from the scourge of the tongue, And shalt not be afraid of destruction, when it cometh.
22 In desolation and in famine, you will laugh, and you will not dread the beasts of the earth.
At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, And of the wild beasts of the land shalt thou not be afraid.
23 For you are in harmony with the stones of the land, and the beasts of the earth will make peace with you.
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 you will know that your home has peace, and, concerning your appearance, you will not sin.
Thou shalt find that thy tent is in peace; Thou shalt visit thy dwelling, and not be disappointed.
25 Likewise, you will know that your offspring will be manifold and your progeny will be like the grass of the earth.
Thou shalt see thy descendants numerous, And thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
26 You will enter the grave with abundance, just as a crop of wheat is gathered in its time.
Thou shalt come to thy grave in full age, As a shock of corn gathered in its season.
27 Behold, this is just as we have found it, which you have heard; walk it through your mind.
Lo! this we have searched out; so it is: Hear it, and lay it up in thy mind!
