| Chapter 5 |
1 |
'Call now; is there any who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? --
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2 |
For resentment kills the foolish man, And jealousy kills the simple. --
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3 |
I have seen the foolish taking root, But suddenly I cursed his habitation. --
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4 |
His children are far from safety, They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them, --
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5 |
Whose harvest the hungry eats up, Takes it even out of the thorns; The snare gapes for their substance. --
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6 |
For affliction doesn't come forth from the dust, Neither does trouble spring out of the ground; --
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7 |
But man is born to trouble, As the sparks fly upward. --
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8 |
'But as for me, I would seek God, To God would I commit my cause; --
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9 |
Who does great things that can't be fathomed, Marvelous things without number; --
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10 |
Who gives rain on the earth, And sends waters on the fields; --
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11 |
So that he sets up on high those who are low, Those who mourn are exalted to safety. --
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12 |
He frustrates the devices of the crafty, So that their hands can't perform their enterprise. --
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13 |
He takes the wise in their own craftiness; The counsel of the cunning is carried headlong. --
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14 |
They meet with darkness in the day-time, And grope at noonday as in the night. --
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15 |
But he saves from the sword of their mouth, Even the needy from the hand of the mighty. --
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16 |
So the poor has hope, And injustice shuts her mouth. --
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17 |
'Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects: Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. --
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18 |
For he wounds, and binds up; He injures, and his hands make whole. --
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19 |
He will deliver you in six troubles; Yes, in seven there shall no evil touch you. --
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20 |
In famine he will redeem you from death; In war, from the power of the sword. --
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21 |
You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, Neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes. --
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22 |
At destruction and dearth you shall laugh, Neither shall you be afraid of the animals of the earth. --
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23 |
For you shall be in league with the stones of the field. The animals of the field shall be at peace with you. --
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24 |
You shall know that your tent is in peace. You shall visit your fold, and shall miss nothing. --
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25 |
You shall know also that your seed shall be great, Your offspring as the grass of the earth. --
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26 |
You shall come to your grave in a full age, Like a shock of grain comes in its season. --
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27 |
Look this, we have searched it, so it is; Hear it, and know it for your good.' --
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