Job 5:1–27

¹ “Call out if you please, but who will answer? To which of the holy ones will you turn? ² For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. ³ I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. ⁴ His sons are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. ⁵ The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. ⁶ For distress does not spring from the dust, and trouble does not sprout from the ground. ⁷ Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. ⁸ However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and lay my cause before Him— ⁹ the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number. ¹⁰ He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields. ¹¹ He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety. ¹² He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success. ¹³ He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning. ¹⁴ They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night. ¹⁵ He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth and from the clutches of the powerful. ¹⁶ So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. ¹⁷ Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. ¹⁸ For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal. ¹⁹ He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven. ²⁰ In famine He will redeem you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. ²¹ You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and will not fear havoc when it comes. ²² You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth. ²³ For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. ²⁴ You will know that your tent is secure, and find nothing amiss when inspecting your home. ²⁵ You will know that your offspring will be many, your descendants like the grass of the earth. ²⁶ You will come to the grave in full vigor, like a sheaf of grain gathered in season. ²⁷ Indeed, we have investigated, and it is true! So hear it and know for yourself.”