Dual Panel1"You may cry for help, but no one listens. You may turn to the angels, but they give you no help.
2Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple.
3From my experience, I know that fools who turn from God may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster.
4Their children are abandoned far from help, with no one to defend them.
5Their harvests are stolen, and their wealth satisfies the thirst of many others, not themselves!
6But evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth.
7People are born for trouble as predictably as sparks fly upward from a fire.
8"My advice to you is this: Go to God and present your case to him.
9For he does great works too marvelous to understand. He performs miracles without number.
10He gives rain for the earth. He sends water for the fields.
11He gives prosperity to the poor and humble, and he takes sufferers to safety.
12He frustrates the plans of the crafty, so their efforts will not succeed.
13He catches those who think they are wise in their own cleverness, so that their cunning schemes are thwarted.
14They grope in the daylight as though they were blind; they see no better in the daytime than at night.
15He rescues the poor from the cutting words of the strong. He saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
16And so at last the poor have hope, and the fangs of the wicked are broken.
17"But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the chastening of the Almighty when you sin.
18For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal.
19He will rescue you again and again so that no evil can touch you.
20He will save you from death in time of famine, from the power of the sword in time of war.
21You will be safe from slander and will have no fear of destruction when it comes.
22You will laugh at destruction and famine; wild animals will not terrify you.
23You will be at peace with the stones of the field, and its wild animals will be at peace with you.
24You will know that your home is kept safe. When you visit your pastures, nothing will be missing.
25Your children will be many; your descendants will be as plentiful as grass!
26You will live to a good old age. You will not be harvested until the proper time!
27"We have found from experience that all this is true. Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself."