1 Call, I pray thee—is there one to answer thee? Or, to which of the holy ones, wilt thou turn?

2 For, to the foolish man, death is caused by vexation, and, the simple one, is slain by jealousy.

3 I, have seen the foolish taking root, and then hath his home decayed, in a moment:

4 His children are far removed from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, and there is none to deliver:

5 Whose harvest, the hungry, eateth up, and, even out of thorn hedges, he taketh it, and the snare gapeth for their substance.

6 For sorrow, cometh not forth out of the dust,—nor, out of the ground, sprouteth trouble.

7 Though, man, to trouble, were born, as, sparks, on high, do soar,

8 Yet indeed, I, would seek unto El, and, unto Elohim, would I set forth any cause:—

9 Who doeth great things, beyond all search,—Wondrous things, till they cannot be recounted;

10 Who giveth rain, upon the face of the earth, and sendeth forth waters, over the face of the open fields;

11 Setting the lowly on high, and, mourners, are uplifted to safety;

12 Who doth frustrate the schemes of the crafty, that their hands cannot achieve abiding success;

13 Who captureth the wise in their own craftiness, yea the headlong counsel of the crooked:

14 By day, they encounter darkness, and, as though it were night, they grope at high noon.

15 But he saveth from the sword, out of their mouth, and, out of the hand of the strong, the needy.

16 Thus to the poor hath come hope, and, perversity, hath shut her mouth.

17 Lo! how happy is the man whom God correcteth! Therefore, the chastening of the Almighty, do not thou refuse;

18 For, he, woundeth that he may bind up, He smiteth through, that, his own hands, may heal.

19 In six troubles, he will rescue thee, and, in seven, there shall smite thee no misfortune:

20 In famine, he will ransom thee from death, and in battle from the power of the sword;

21 During the scourge of the tongue, shalt thou be hid, neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh;

22 At destruction and at hunger, shalt thou laugh, and, of the wild beast of the earth, be not thou afraid;

23 For, with the stones of the field, shall be thy covenant, and, the wild beast of the field, hath been made thy friend;

24 And thou shalt know that, at peace, is thy tent, and shalt visit thy fold, and miss nothing;

25 And thou shalt know, that numerous is thy seed, and, thine offspring, like the young shoots of the field.

26 Thou shalt come, yet robust, to the grave, as a stack of sheaves mounteth up in its season.

27 Lo! as for this, we have searched it out—so, it is, Hear it, and know, thou, for thyself.