1"Cry out! Is there anyone to answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?

2Certainly, anger kills a stubborn fool, and jealousy murders a gullible person.

3I have seen a stubborn fool take root, but I quickly cursed his house.

4His children are far from help. They are crushed at the city gate, and no one is there to rescue them.

5What a stubborn fool gathers, hungry people eat. They take it even from among the thorns, and thirsty people pant after his wealth.

6Certainly, sorrow doesn't come from the soil, and trouble doesn't sprout from the ground.

7But a person is born for trouble as surely as sparks fly up [from a fire].

8"But I would seek God's help and present my case to him.

9He does great things that [we] cannot understand and miracles that [we] cannot count.

10He gives rain to the earth and sends water to the fields.

11He places lowly people up high. He lifts those who mourn to safety.

12He keeps shrewd people from carrying out their plans so that they cannot do anything successfully.

13He catches the wise with their own tricks. The plans of schemers prove to be hasty.

14In the daytime they meet darkness and grope in the sunlight as if it were night.

15"But he saves [other people] from their slander and the needy from the power of the mighty.

16Then the poor have hope while wrongdoing shuts its mouth.

17"Blessed is the person whom God corrects. That person should not despise discipline from the Almighty.

18God injures, but he bandages. He beats you up, but his hands make you well.

19He will keep you safe from six troubles, and when the seventh one comes, no harm will touch you:

20"In famine he will save you from death, and in war he will save you from the sword.

21"When the tongue lashes out, you will be safe, and you will not be afraid of destruction when it comes.

22"You will be able to laugh at destruction and starvation, so do not be afraid of wild animals on the earth.

23"You will have a binding agreement with the stones in the field, and wild animals will be at peace with you.

24"You will know peace in your tent. You will inspect your house and find nothing missing.

25"You will find that your children are many and your descendants are like the grass of the earth.

26"You will come to your grave at a ripe old age like a stack of hay in the right season.

27"We have studied all of this thoroughly! This is the way it is. Listen to it, and learn it for yourself."