1 “Cry out!
2 Certainly, anger kills a stubborn fool,
3 I have seen a stubborn fool take root,
4 His children are far from help.
5 What a stubborn fool gathers, hungry people eat.
6 Certainly, sorrow doesn’t come from the soil,
7 But a person is born for trouble as surely as sparks fly up ⌞from a fire⌟.
8 “But I would seek God’s help
9 He does great things that ⌞we⌟ cannot understand
10 He gives rain to the earth
11 He places lowly people up high.
12 He keeps shrewd people from carrying out their plans
13 He catches the wise with their own tricks.
14 In the daytime they meet darkness
15 “But he saves ⌞other people⌟ from their slander
16 Then the poor have hope
17 “Blessed is the person whom God corrects.
18 God injures, but he bandages.
19 He will keep you safe from six troubles,
20 “In famine he will save you from death,
21 “When the tongue lashes out, you will be safe,
22 “You will be able to laugh at destruction and starvation,
23 “You will have a binding agreement with the stones in the field,
24 “You will know peace in your tent.
25 “You will find that your children are many
26 “You will come to your grave at a ripe old age
27 “We have studied all of this thoroughly! This is the way it is.