Job 5

₁Call out, Job. See if anyone answers.

Is there any angel to whom you can turn?

₂To worry yourself to death with resentment

would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.

₃I have seen fools who looked secure,

but I called down a sudden curse on their homes.

₄Their children can never find safety;

no one stands up to defend them in court.

₅Hungry people will eat the fool's crops —

even the grain growing among thorns —

and thirsty people will envy his wealth.

₆Evil does not grow in the soil,

nor does trouble grow out of the ground.

₇No indeed! People bring trouble on themselves,

as surely as sparks fly up from a fire.

₈If I were you, I would turn to God

and present my case to him.

₉We cannot understand the great things he does,

and to his miracles there is no end.

₁₀He sends rain on the land

and he waters the fields.

₁₁Yes, it is God who raises the humble

and gives joy to all who mourn.

_12-13He upsets the plans of cunning people,

and traps the wise in their own schemes,

so that nothing they do succeeds;

₁₄even at noon they grope in darkness.

₁₅But God saves the poor from death;

he saves the needy from oppression.

₁₆He gives hope to the poor and silences the wicked.

₁₇Happy is the person whom God corrects!

Do not resent it when he rebukes you.

₁₈God bandages the wounds he makes;

his hand hurts you, and his hand heals.

₁₉Time after time he will save you from harm;

₂₀when famine comes, he will keep you alive,

and in war protect you from death.

₂₁God will rescue you from slander;

he will save you when destruction comes.

₂₂You will laugh at violence and hunger

and not be afraid of wild animals.

₂₃The fields you plough will be free of rocks;

wild animals will never attack you.

₂₄Then you will live at peace in your tent;

when you look at your sheep, you will find them safe.

₂₅You will have as many children

as there are blades of grass in a pasture.

₂₆Like wheat that ripens till harvest time,

you will live to a ripe old age.

₂₇Job, we have learnt this by long study.

It is true, so now accept it.