1 | Therefore call, if there are any who will respond to you, and turn to one or another of the saints. |
2 | Truly, anger condemns the foolish to death, and envy kills the petty. |
3 | I have seen a fool with a strong root, and I have cursed his excellence without hesitation. |
4 | His sons will be far from prosperity and will be crushed at the gate, and there will be none who can rescue them. |
5 | Their harvest, the starving will eat. The armed man will rob him, and the thirsty will drink his resources. |
6 | Nothing on earth occurs without a reason, and sorrow does not rise from the earth. |
7 | Man is born to labor, and the bird to fly. |
8 | Therefore, because of this, I will beg the Lord, and place my eloquence before God. |
9 | He does great and unfathomable and miraculous things without number. |
10 | He gives rain over the face of the earth and irrigates all things with the waters. |
11 | He places the humble on high and encourages the grieving towards health. |
12 | He dispels the thoughts of the spiteful, lest their hands be able to complete what they had begun. |
13 | He catches the wise in their cleverness and dissipates the counsel of the perverse. |
14 | They will encounter darkness in the daytime, and they will grope at midday just as in the night. |
15 | Thereafter, he will act to save the needy from the sword of their mouth, and the poor from the hand of the violent. |
16 | And there will be hope for those in need, for iniquity will diminish its speech. |
17 | Blessed is the man whom God corrects; therefore, do not reject the chastisement of the Lord. |
18 | For he wounds and he cures; he strikes and his hands will heal. |
19 | He will deliver you into six tribulations, and in the seventh, evil will not touch you. |
20 | During famine, he will rescue you from death, and during war, from the hand of the sword. |
21 | You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and you will not fear calamity when it arrives. |
22 | In desolation and in famine, you will laugh, and you will not dread the beasts of the earth. |
23 | For you are in harmony with the stones of the land, and the beasts of the earth will make peace with you. |
24 | And you will know that your home has peace, and, concerning your appearance, you will not sin. |
25 | Likewise, you will know that your offspring will be manifold and your progeny will be like the grass of the earth. |
26 | You will enter the grave with abundance, just as a crop of wheat is gathered in its time. |
27 | Behold, this is just as we have found it, which you have heard; walk it through your mind. |