4 ⁷ "Think now, who that was innocent ever perished?
Or where were the upright cut off?
4 ⁸ As I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow trouble reap the same.
4 ⁹ By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
4 ¹⁰ The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
4 ¹¹ The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.

4 ¹² "Now a word was brought to me stealthily,
my ear received the whisper of it.
4 ¹³ Amid thoughts from visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
4 ¹⁴ dread came upon me, and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.
4 ¹⁵ A spirit glided past my face;
the hair of my flesh stood up.
4 ¹⁶ It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
there was silence, then I heard a voice:
4 ¹⁷ 'Can mortal man be righteous before God?
Can a man be pure before his Maker?
4 ¹⁸ Even in his servants he puts no trust,
and his angels he charges with error;
4 ¹⁹ how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed before the moth.
4 ²⁰ Between morning and evening they are destroyed;
they perish for ever without any regarding it.
4 ²¹ If their tent-cord is plucked up within them,
do they not die, and that without wisdom?

5 ⁸ "As for me, I would seek God,
and to God would I commit my cause;
5 ⁹ who does great things and unsearchable,
marvelous things without number:
5 ¹⁰ he gives rain upon the earth
and sends waters upon the fields;
5 ¹¹ he sets on high those who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
5 ¹² He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.
5 ¹³ He takes the wise in their own craftiness;
and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
5 ¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime,
and grope at noonday as in the night.
5 ¹⁵ But he saves the fatherless from their mouth,
the needy from the hand of the mighty.
5 ¹⁶ So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts her mouth.

5 ¹⁷ "Behold, happy is the man whom God reproves;
therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty.
5 ¹⁸ For he wounds, but he binds up;
he smites, but his hands heal.
5 ¹⁹ He will deliver you from six troubles;
in seven there shall no evil touch you.
5 ²⁰ In famine he will redeem you from death,
and in war from the power of the sword.
5 ²¹ You shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue,
and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
5 ²² At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.
5 ²³ For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
5 ²⁴ You shall know that your tent is safe,
and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
5 ²⁵ You shall know also that your descendants shall be many,
and your offspring as the grass of the earth.
5 ²⁶ You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,
as a shock of grain comes up to the threshing floor in its season.
5 ²⁷ Lo, this we have searched out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for your own good."