5: 1 Call now; is there any that will answer thee? And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn?
5: 2 For vexation killeth the foolish man, And ³⁹jealousy slayeth the silly one.
³⁹Or, indignation

5: 3 I have seen the foolish taking root: But suddenly I cursed his habitation.
5: 4 His children are far from safety, And they are crushed in the gate, Neither is there any to deliver them:
5: 5 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, And taketh it even out of the thorns; And ⁴⁰the snare gapeth for their substance.
⁴⁰Vg. reads the thirsty swallow up their substance.

5: 6 For ⁴¹affliction cometh not forth from the dust, Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
⁴¹Or, iniquity See ch. 4:8.

5: 7 But man is born unto trouble, As ⁴²the sparks fly upward.
⁴²Hb. the sons of flame or, the sons of lightning

5: 8 But as for me, I would seek unto God, And unto ⁴³God would I commit my cause;
⁴³Or, the judges Hb. elohim

5: 9 Who doeth great things and unsearchable, Marvellous things without number;
5: 10 Who giveth rain upon the earth, And sendeth waters upon the fields;
5: 11 So that he setteth up on high those that are low, And those that mourn are exalted to safety.
5: 12 He frustrateth the devices of the crafty, So that their hands ⁴⁴cannot perform their enterprise.
⁴⁴Or, can perform nothing of worth.

5: 13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; And the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.
5: 14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, And grope at noonday as in the night.
5: 15 But he saveth from the sword ⁴⁵of their mouth, Even the needy from the hand of the mighty.
⁴⁵Hb. out of their mouth,

5: 16 So the poor hath hope, And iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
5: 17 Behold, happy is the man whom God ⁴⁶correcteth: Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.
⁴⁶Or, reproveth:

5: 18 For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and his hands make whole.
5: 19 He will deliver thee in six troubles; Yes, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
5: 20 In famine he will redeem thee from death; And in war from the power of the sword.
5: 21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
5: 22 At destruction and dearth thou shalt laugh; Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
5: 23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
5: 24 And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace; And thou shalt visit thy ⁴⁷fold, and ⁴⁸shalt miss nothing.
⁴⁷Or, habitation,
⁴⁸Or, shalt not err.

5: 25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, And thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
5: 26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, Like as a shock of grain cometh up in its season.
5: 27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; Hear it, and know thou it ⁴⁹for thy good.
⁴⁹Hb. for thyself.