5 “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of (A)the holy ones will you turn?
2 Surely vexation kills the fool,
and jealousy slays the simple.
3 (B)I have seen the fool taking root,
but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
4 His children are (C)far from safety;
they are crushed in (D)the gate,
and there is no one to deliver them.
5 The hungry eat his harvest,
and he takes it even out of thorns,[a]
and the thirsty pant[b] after his[c] wealth.
6 For affliction does not come from the dust,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
7 but man is (E)born to trouble
as the sparks fly upwards.
8 “As for me, I would seek God,
and to God would I commit my cause,
9 who (F)does great things and (G)unsearchable,
(H)marvellous things without number:
10 he gives (I)rain on the earth
and sends waters on the fields;
11 he (J)sets on high those who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12 He (K)frustrates the devices of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.
13 He (L)catches the wise in their own craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
14 They meet with darkness in the daytime
and (M)grope at noonday as in the night.
15 But he (N)saves the needy from the sword of their mouth
and from the hand of the mighty.
16 So the poor have hope,
and (O)injustice shuts her mouth.
17 “Behold, (P)blessed is the one whom God reproves;
therefore (Q)despise not the discipline of the (R)Almighty.
18 For he wounds, but he (S)binds up;
he (T)shatters, but his hands heal.
19 He will (U)deliver you from six troubles;
in seven no (V)evil[d] shall touch you.
20 (W)In famine he will redeem you from death,
and in war from the power of the sword.
21 You shall be (X)hidden from the lash of the tongue,
and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
22 At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
and shall not fear (Y)the beasts of the earth.
23 For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
24 You shall know that your (Z)tent is at peace,
and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
25 You shall know also that your (AA)offspring shall be many,
and your descendants as (AB)the grass of the earth.
26 You shall come to your grave in (AC)ripe old age,
like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
27 Behold, this we have (AD)searched out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for your good.”[e]
Footnotes
- Job 5:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Job 5:5 Aquila, Symmachus, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew could be read as and the snare pants
- Job 5:5 Hebrew their
- Job 5:19 Or disaster
- Job 5:27 Hebrew for yourself
Cross references
- Job 5:1 : ch. 15:15; Ps. 89:5, 7; Zech. 14:5
- Job 5:3 : Jer. 12:2, 3; [Ps. 37:35, 36; 73:18-20]
- Job 5:4 : [Ps. 119:155]
- Job 5:4 : ch. 29:7; Ps. 127:5; Prov. 22:22; [Josh. 20:4; Amos 5:12]; See Ruth 4:1
- Job 5:7 : ch. 14:1; Gen. 3:17-19; Eccles. 2:23
- Job 5:9 : ch. 9:10; [ch. 37:5; Ps. 40:5; 72:18; Rom. 11:33; Rev. 15:3]
- Job 5:9 : ch. 9:10; 11:7; 34:24
- Job 5:9 : [ch. 10:16]
- Job 5:10 : Ps. 65:9, 10; 147:8; Jer. 5:24; 14:22; Acts 14:17; [Ps. 104:10, 13; Matt. 5:45]
- Job 5:11 : 1 Sam. 2:7; [Ps. 113:7]
- Job 5:12 : [Neh. 4:15; Ps. 33:10; Isa. 8:10]
- Job 5:13 : Cited 1 Cor. 3:19; [Ps. 9:15, 16]
- Job 5:14 : ch. 12:25; Deut. 28:29; [Isa. 59:10]
- Job 5:15 : Ps. 35:10
- Job 5:16 : Ps. 107:42; [Ps. 63:11]
- Job 5:17 : Ps. 94:12; [James 1:12]
- Job 5:17 : Prov. 3:11; Heb. 12:5; Rev. 3:19
- Job 5:17 : Gen. 17:1
- Job 5:18 : Isa. 30:26; 61:1; Hos. 6:1
- Job 5:18 : [Deut. 32:39]
- Job 5:19 : Ps. 34:19; 91:3; 1 Cor. 10:13
- Job 5:19 : Ps. 91:10
- Job 5:20 : Ps. 33:19; 37:19
- Job 5:21 : [Ps. 31:20]
- Job 5:22 : [Isa. 11:8, 9; 35:9; 65:25; Ezek. 34:25; Hos. 2:18]
- Job 5:24 : [ch. 21:9]
- Job 5:25 : ch. 21:8; Ps. 112:2
- Job 5:25 : Ps. 72:16
- Job 5:26 : [Gen. 15:15; 25:8; 35:29; Prov. 9:11; 10:27]
- Job 5:27 : [Ps. 111:2]