5:1 Call out, Job. See if anyone answers. Is there any angel to whom you can turn? |
5:2 To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to do. |
5:3 I have seen fools who looked secure, but I called down a sudden curse on their homes. |
5:4 Their children can never find safety; no one stands up to defend them in court. |
5:5 Hungry people will eat the fool's crops--- even the grain growing among thorns --- and thirsty people will envy his wealth. |
5:6 Evil does not grow in the soil, nor does trouble grow out of the ground. |
5:7 No indeed! We bring trouble on ourselves, as surely as sparks fly up from a fire. |
5:8 If I were you, I would turn to God and present my case to him. |
5:9 We cannot understand the great things he does, and to his miracles there is no end. |
5:10 He sends rain on the land and he waters the fields. |
5:11 Yes, it is God who raises the humble and gives joy to all who mourn. |
5:12 He upsets the plans of cunning people, and traps the wise in their own schemes, so that nothing they do succeeds; |
5:13 (SEE 5:12) |
5:14 even at noon they grope in darkness. |
5:15 But God saves the poor from death; he saves the needy from oppression. |
5:16 He gives hope to the poor and silences the wicked. |
5:17 Happy is the person whom God corrects! Do not resent it when he rebukes you. |
5:18 God bandages the wounds he makes; his hand hurts you, and his hand heals. |
5:19 Time after time he will save you from harm; |
5:20 when famine comes, he will keep you alive, and in war protect you from death. |
5:21 God will rescue you from slander; he will save you when destruction comes. |
5:22 You will laugh at violence and hunger and not be afraid of wild animals. |
5:23 The fields you plow will be free of rocks; wild animals will never attack you. |
5:24 Then you will live at peace in your tent; when you look at your sheep, you will find them safe. |
5:25 You will have as many children as there are blades of grass in a pasture. |
5:26 Like wheat that ripens till harvest time, you will live to a ripe old age. |
5:27 Job, we have learned this by long study. It is true, so now accept it. |