1Call out! Will anyone answer you?
2For anger kills a fool,
3I have seen a fool taking root,
but I immediately pronounced a curse on his home.
4His children are far from safety.
with no one to rescue them.
5The hungry consume his harvest,
even taking it out of the thorns.5:5 Hb obscure
The thirsty5:5 Aq, Sym, Syr, Vg; MT reads snares pant for his children’s wealth.
6For distress does not grow out of the soil,
and trouble does not sprout from the ground.
as surely as sparks fly upward.
8However, if I were you, I would appeal to God
10He gives rain to the earth
and sends water to the fields.5:10 Jb 36:27–28; 38:26–28; Jr 14:22
11He sets the lowly on high,
and mourners are lifted to safety.5:11 1Sm 2:7; Ps 113:6–7; Mt 5:4
12He frustrates the schemes of the crafty
so that they5:12 Lit their hands achieve no success.
13He traps the wise in their craftiness
so that the plans of the deceptive
are quickly brought to an end.5:13 Ps 9:15–16; Is 29:14; 1Co 3:19
14They encounter darkness by day,
and they grope at noon
and from the clutches of the powerful.
16So the poor have hope,
17See how happy is the person whom God corrects;
so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.
18For he wounds but he also bandages;
19He will rescue you from six calamities;
no harm will touch you in seven.
20In famine he will redeem you from death,
21You will be safe from slander5:21 Lit be hidden from the whip of the tongue
22You will laugh at destruction and hunger
and not fear the land’s wild creatures.
23For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and nothing will be missing when you inspect your home.
25You will also know that your offspring will be many
and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
as a stack of sheaves is gathered in its season.
27We have investigated this, and it is true!
Hear it and understand it for yourself.
Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard
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