1 ARST If you ask someone to judge between you and God, no one will agree to do that for you. Not even an angel would have the authority or wisdom to judge your case. BSB BSB: “Call out if you please, but who will answer? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2 ARST People who do not respect God get angry with God{ instead of considering how they have sinned}. Naïve people resent God{ when they do not get what they think they deserve}.{ Their anger and resentment lead them to disobey God, so that} God punishes them severely and even kills them. So respect God and do not be naïve! BSB BSB: For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
3 ARST I have seen foolish people who seemed to be successful. But immediately I recognized that they would not prosper for long. BSB BSB: I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.
4 ARST Their children are never safe. They always lose to their opponents in court because no one defends them. BSB BSB: His sons are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.
5 ARST People who do not respect God are not able to harvest the crops that they plant. Poor people come and claim the grain— right to the edges of the field! Yes, poor people see their crops and are glad to have them. BSB BSB: The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
6 ARST After all, trouble does not come out of nowhere. BSB BSB: For distress does not spring from the dust, and trouble does not sprout from the ground.
7 ARST No, people cause trouble for themselves throughout their lives. This is as certain as the fact that sparks shoot up from a fire. BSB BSB: Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
8 ARST If I were suffering as you are, I would ask God for help and trust God to help me. BSB BSB: However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and lay my cause before Him—
9 ARST God does great things that we can not understand. We can not even count the marvelous things that God does. BSB BSB: the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.
10 ARST God is the one who sends rain onto the earth so that it waters our fields. BSB BSB: He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields.
11 ARST God defends people who are humble. He gives widows safe places to live. BSB BSB: He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety.
12 ARST God keeps devious people from being able to do what they plan. BSB BSB: He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
13 ARST When people try cleverly to make others suffer, God makes this cause suffering for them instead. When people try to trick others, God shows that it is a trick before it can fool the others. BSB BSB: He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.
14 ARST God keeps wicked people from knowing how to fulfill their plans. It is as if the wicked people are always in the dark, even during the day, and they need to feel around with their hands to try to find where to go. BSB BSB: They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.
15 ARST When powerful people threaten or accuse weak people, God rescues the weak people. He keeps the powerful people from harming them. BSB BSB: He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth and from the clutches of the powerful.
16 ARST { Because they know that God will help them,} poor people can confidently expect that good things will happen to them. God proves that they are innocent when people accuse them falsely. BSB BSB: So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
17 ARST Consider this: Anyone whom God corrects is better off because of it. So you should be thankful that God is disciplining you. BSB BSB: Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
18 ARST You should be thankful because God allows people to suffer{ in order to correct them} and then he restores them. BSB BSB: For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.
19 ARST Whenever you are in trouble, God will keep rescuing you. God will keep bad things from happening to you. BSB BSB: He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven.
20 ARST When there is little food to eat, God will not allow you to starve to death. When there is war, God will not allow your enemies to kill you. BSB BSB: In famine He will redeem you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
21 ARST God will protect you when people say bad things about you. God will protect you from things that could badly harm you. BSB BSB: You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and will not fear havoc when it comes.
22 ARST You will not worry about things like that or about not having enough to eat. You will not be afraid that wild animals will hurt you, BSB BSB: You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth.
23 ARST because you will be confident that those wild animals will not attack you. You will not have big rocks in your fields that make plowing difficult. BSB BSB: For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24 ARST You will know that things will go well for you in your home. When you check on your animals, you will see that they are all there. BSB BSB: You will know that your tent is secure, and find nothing amiss when inspecting your home.
25 ARST You will be certain that you will have many descendants. They will be as numerous as blades of grass. BSB BSB: You will know that your offspring will be many, your descendants like the grass of the earth.
26 ARST You will live a long life, like grain that grows to become fully ripe before it is harvested. BSB BSB: You will come to the grave in full vigor, like a sheaf of grain gathered in season.
27 ARST I can assure you that my friends and I have thought carefully about these things. We know that they are true, so please pay careful attention to what I have said! You also will realize that it is true.” BSB BSB: Indeed, we have investigated, and it is true! So hear it and know for yourself.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.