And if you say: surely, for one who comes into fire and water, He will change the nature [of the fire and the water], as He did with Avraham, and with Chananyah and his companions, and in water, with those cast into the Nile; and for one who spends the night among wild beasts, He will subdue both the lion and the bear, for the dread of G-d will be upon them before the tzaddik, who has not ruined the image of G-d on his face, as we have explained well in the sefer Chavatzeles HaSharon. But [rescue] from the destruction of wicked men, who have free choice, is the hardest of all: for how will He keep them from harming him, since He will not take away their free choice? For surely nothing holds it back. To save you, and to set right these two: of the first he said, “For Hashem will be your confidence,” and of the second he said, “and He will guard your foot from being trapped.” And this is by considering the difference between trust and כסלה, confidence. One is called “trusting” who knows for certain that he will be saved from some trouble, because he relies in his mind on kinds of rescue and sure shields and the like. But כסלה, confidence, is said of one who is calm and secure because he does not know of the evil about to come, and does not know of its dawning until it comes upon him suddenly. And he said that you will not fear sudden terror (Mishlei 3:25), because “Hashem will be your confidence,” בכסלך: in that in which you are a כסיל, a fool, without the knowledge to guard against it, Hashem will be with you to guard you, so that your ignorance will not harm you with the suddenness of evil. And the second as well, which is the destruction of the wicked, you will not fear either. For although HaKadosh Baruch Hu does not keep the wicked man from pursuing his wickedness, and leaves him to his choice, and he spreads a net beside your path, this He will do: He will guard your foot from being trapped in what he spreads for you. It follows that He does not keep him from what he plotted to do; but you He will guard, for He will bring events around so that you are not caught in this net that he hid.