New Living Translation NLT
Common English Bible CEB
1 “Cry for help, but will anyone answer you? Which of the angels will help you?
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Call out. Will anyone answer you? To which holy one will you turn?
2 Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple.
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Surely anger can kill the foolish; fury can kill the simple.
3 I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster.
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I've seen the foolish take root and promptly curse their house.
4 Their children are abandoned far from help; they are crushed in court with no one to defend them.
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Their children are far from safety, crushed in the gate without a deliverer.
5 The hungry devour their harvest, even when it is guarded by brambles. The thirsty pant after their wealth.
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The hungry devour their crops; it's taken even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after their yield.
6 But evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth.
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Surely trouble doesn't come from dust, nor does distress sprout from the ground.
7 People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.
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Surely humans are born to distress, just as sparks rise up.
8 “If I were you, I would go to God and present my case to him.
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But I would seek God, put my case to God,
9 He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.
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who does great things beyond comprehension, wonderful things without number;
10 He gives rain for the earth and water for the fields.
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who provides rain over the earth's surface, sends water to the open country,
11 He gives prosperity to the poor and protects those who suffer.
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exalts the lowly, raises mourners to victory;
12 He frustrates the plans of schemers so the work of their hands will not succeed.
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who frustrates the schemes of the clever so that their hands achieve no success,
13 He traps the wise in their own cleverness so their cunning schemes are thwarted.
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trapping the wise in their cleverness so that the plans of the devious don't succeed.
14 They find it is dark in the daytime, and they grope at noon as if it were night.
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They encounter darkness during the day, and at noon they fumble about as at night.
15 He rescues the poor from the cutting words of the strong, and rescues them from the clutches of the powerful.
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Yet he rescues the orphan from the sword of their mouth, the needy from the grip of the strong;
16 And so at last the poor have hope, and the snapping jaws of the wicked are shut.
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so the poor have hope and violence shuts its mouth.
17 “But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin.
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Look, happy is the person whom God corrects; so don't reject the Almighty's instruction.
18 For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal.
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He injures, but he binds up; he strikes, but his hands heal.
19 From six disasters he will rescue you; even in the seventh, he will keep you from evil.
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From six adversities he will deliver you; from seven harm won't touch you.
20 He will save you from death in time of famine, from the power of the sword in time of war.
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In famine he will ransom you from death; in war, from the power of the sword.
21 You will be safe from slander and have no fear when destruction comes.
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You will be hidden from the tongue's sting, and you won't fear destruction when it comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine; wild animals will not terrify you.
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You will laugh at destruction and hunger; you won't be afraid of wild beasts;
23 You will be at peace with the stones of the field, and its wild animals will be at peace with you.
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for you will make an agreement with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your home is safe. When you survey your possessions, nothing will be missing.
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You will know that your tent is secure. You will examine your home and miss nothing.
25 You will have many children; your descendants will be as plentiful as grass!
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You will know that you'll have many children. Your offspring will be like the grass of the earth.
26 You will go to the grave at a ripe old age, like a sheaf of grain harvested at the proper time!
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You will come to your grave in old age as bundles of grain stacked up at harvesttime.
27 “We have studied life and found all this to be true. Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself.”
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Look, we've searched this out, and so it is; listen and find out for yourself.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible