Chapter 5•Job
[1] “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
[2] Surely vexation kills the fool,
and jealousy slays the simple.
[3] I have seen the fool taking root,
but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
[4] His children are far from safety;
they are crushed in the gate,
and there is no one to deliver them.
[5] The hungry eat his harvest,
and he takes it even out of thorns,
and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
[6] For affliction does not come from the dust,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
[7] but man is born to trouble
as the sparks fly upward.
[8] “As for me, I would seek God,
and to God would I commit my cause,
[9] who does great things and unsearchable,
marvelous things without number:
[10] he gives rain on the earth
and sends waters on the fields;
[11] he sets on high those who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
[12] He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.
[13] He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
[14] They meet with darkness in the daytime
and grope at noonday as in the night.
[15] But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth
and from the hand of the mighty.
[16] So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts her mouth.
[17] “Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves;
therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.
[18] For he wounds, but he binds up;
he shatters, but his hands heal.
[19] He will deliver you from six troubles;
in seven no evil shall touch you.
[20] In famine he will redeem you from death,
and in war from the power of the sword.
[21] You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue,
and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
[22] At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.
[23] For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
[24] You shall know that your tent is at peace,
and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
[25] You shall know also that your offspring shall be many,
and your descendants as the grass of the earth.
[26] You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,
like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
[27] Behold, this we have searched out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for your good.” (ESV)