Job 5

1 “Pray, call, is there any to answer you? And to which of the holy ones do you turn?

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

2 For provocation slays the perverse, And envy puts to death the simple,

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

3 I have seen the perverse taking root, And I mark his habitation straight away,

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

4 His sons are far from safety, And they are bruised in the gate, And there is no deliverer.

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

5 Whose harvest the hungry eat, And even take it from the thorns, And the designing swallowed their wealth.

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

6 For sorrow does not come forth from the dust, Nor does misery spring up from the ground.

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

7 For man is born to misery, And the sparks go high to fly.

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

8 Yet I inquire for God, And for God I give my word,

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

9 Doing great things, and there is no searching. Wonderful, until there is no numbering.

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

10 Who is giving rain on the face of the land, And is sending waters on the out-places.

He 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.

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

12 Making void thoughts of the cunning, And their hands do not execute wisdom.

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

13 Capturing the wise in their subtlety, And the counsel of wrestling ones was hurried,

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

14 By day they meet darkness, And as night—they grope at noon.

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

15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth, And from a strong hand,

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

16 And there is hope for the poor, And perverseness has shut her mouth.

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

17 Behold, the blessedness of mortal man, God reproves him: And do not despise the discipline of the Mighty,

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

18 For He pains, and He binds up, He strikes, and His hands heal.

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

19 In six distresses He delivers you, And in seven evil does not strike on you.

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

20 In famine He has redeemed you from death, And in battle from the hands of the sword.

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

21 When the tongue scourges you are hid, And you are not afraid of destruction, When it comes.

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 at hunger you mock, And of the beast of the earth, You are not afraid.

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

23 (For with sons of the field [is] your covenant, And the beast of the field Has been at peace with you.)

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 you have known that your tent [is] peace, And inspected your habitation, and do not err,

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

25 And have known that your seed [is] numerous, And your offspring as the herb 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 You come in full age to the grave, As the going up of a stalk 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 searched it out—it [is] right, listen; And you, know for yourself!”

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