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[1] Pray, call, is there any to answer thee? And unto which of the holy ones dost thou turn?
[2] For provocation slayeth the perverse, And envy putteth to death the simple,
[3] I -- I have seen the perverse taking root, And I mark his habitation straightway,
[4] Far are his sons from safety, And they are bruised in the gate, And there is no deliverer.
[5] Whose harvest the hungry doth eat, And even from the thorns taketh it, And the designing swallowed their wealth.
[6] For sorrow cometh not forth from the dust, Nor from the ground springeth up misery.
[7] For man to misery is born, And the sparks go high to fly.
[8] Yet I -- I inquire for God, And for God I give my word,
[9] Doing great things, and there is no searching. Wonderful, till there is no numbering.
[10] Who is giving rain on the face of the land, And is sending waters on the out-places.
[11] To set the low on a high place, And the mourners have been high [in] safety.
[12] Making void thoughts of the subtile, And their hands do not execute wisdom.
[13] Capturing the wise in their subtilty, And the counsel of wrestling ones was hastened,
[14] By day they meet darkness, And as night -- they grope at noon.
[15] And He saveth the wasted from their mouth, And from a strong hand the needy,
[16] And there is hope to the poor, And perverseness hath shut her mouth.
[17] Lo, the happiness of mortal man, God doth reprove him: And the chastisement of the Mighty despise not,
[18] For He doth pain, and He bindeth up, He smiteth, and His hands heal.
[19] In six distresses He delivereth thee, And in seven evil striketh not on thee.
[20] In famine He hath redeemed thee from death, And in battle from the hands of the sword.
[21] When the tongue scourgeth thou art hid, And thou art not afraid of destruction, When it cometh.
[22] At destruction and at hunger thou mockest, And of the beast of the earth, Thou art not afraid.
[23] (For with sons of the field [is] thy covenant, And the beast of the field Hath been at peace with thee.)
[24] And thou hast known that thy tent [is] peace, And inspected thy habitation, and errest not,
[25] And hast known that numerous [is] Thy seed, And thine offspring as the herb of the earth;
[26] Thou comest in full age unto the grave, As the going up of a stalk in its season.
[27] Lo, this -- we searched it out -- it [is] right, hearken; And thou, know for thyself!
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