1 ¶ Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn1?
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2 For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy2 slayeth the silly one.
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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, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
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5 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.
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6 ¶ Although affliction3 cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
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7 Yet man is born unto trouble,4 as the sparks5 fly upward.
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8 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
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9 Which doeth great things and unsearchable;6 marvellous things without7 number:
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10 Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:8
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11 To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
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12 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.9
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13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
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14 They meet10 with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
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15 But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
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16 So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
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17 ¶ Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
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18 For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.
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19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
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20 In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power11 of the sword.
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21 Thou shalt be hid from12 the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
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22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
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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.
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24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle13 shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.14
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25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great,15 and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
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26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in16 in his season.
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27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for17 thy good.
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