King James Version KJV
Good News Translation GNT
1 Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
1
Call out, Job. See if anyone answers. Is there any angel to whom you can turn?
2 For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
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To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.
3 I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
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I have seen fools who looked secure, but I called down a sudden curse on their homes.
4 His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
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Their children can never find safety; no one stands up to defend them in court.
5 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.
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Hungry people will eat the fool's crops - even the grain growing among thorns - and thirsty people will envy his wealth.
6 Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
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Evil does not grow in the soil, nor does trouble grow out of the ground.
7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
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No indeed! We bring trouble on ourselves, as surely as sparks fly up from a fire.
8 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
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If I were you, I would turn to God and present my case to him.
9 Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
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We cannot understand the great things he does, and to his miracles there is no end.
10 Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:
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He sends rain on the land and he waters the fields.
11 To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
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Yes, it is God who raises the humble and gives joy to all who mourn.
12 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
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He upsets the plans of cunning people, and traps the wise in their own schemes, so that nothing they do succeeds;
13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
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even at noon they grope in darkness.
15 But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
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But God saves the poor from death; he saves the needy from oppression.
16 So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
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He gives hope to the poor and silences the wicked.
17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
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Happy is the person whom God corrects! Do not resent it when he rebukes you.
18 For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.
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God bandages the wounds he makes; his hand hurts you, and his hand heals.
19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
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Time after time he will save you from harm;
20 In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.
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when famine comes, he will keep you alive, and in war protect you from death.
21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
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God will rescue you from slander; he will save you when destruction comes.
22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
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You will laugh at violence and hunger and not be afraid of wild animals.
23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
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The fields you plow will be free of rocks; wild animals will never attack you.
24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
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Then you will live at peace in your tent; when you look at your sheep, you will find them safe.
25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
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You will have as many children as there are blades of grass in a pasture.
26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.
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Like wheat that ripens till harvest time, you will live to a ripe old age.
27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.
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Job, we have learned this by long study. It is true, so now accept it.
The King James Version is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.