2  “Therefore my ^dthoughts answer me,

because of my haste within me.

3  I hear censure that insults me,

and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.

4  Do you not know this from of old,

^esince man was placed on earth,

5  ^fthat the exulting of the wicked is short,

and the joy of the godless but for a moment?

6  ^gThough his height mount up to the heavens,

and his head reach to the clouds,

7  he will perish forever like his own ^hdung;

those who have seen him will say, ⁱ‘Where is he?’

8  He will fly away like ^ja dream and not be found;

he will be chased away like a vision of the night.

9  ^kThe eye that saw him will see him no more,

nor will his place any more behold him.

10  His children will seek the favor of the poor,

and his hands will ^lgive back his wealth.

11  His bones are full of his ^myouthful vigor,

but it will lie ⁿdown with him in the dust.

12  “Though evil is sweet in his mouth,

though he hides it ^ounder his tongue,

13  though he is loath to let it go

and holds it in his mouth,

14  yet his food is turned in his stomach;

it is the venom of ^pcobras within him.

15  He swallows down riches and vomits them up again;

God casts them out of his belly.

16  He will suck the poison of cobras;

^qthe tongue of a viper will kill him.

17  He will not look upon ^rthe rivers,

the streams flowing with ^shoney and ^tcurds.

18  He will ^ugive back the fruit of his toil

and will not ^vswallow it down;

from the profit of his trading

he will get no enjoyment.

19  For he has crushed and abandoned the poor;

he has seized a house that he did not build.

20  “Because he ^wknew no ^xcontentment in his belly,

^yhe will not let anything in which he delights escape him.

21  There was nothing left after he had eaten;

therefore his prosperity will not endure.

22  In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress;

the hand of everyone in misery will come against him.

23  To fill his belly to the full,

God¹ will send his burning anger against him

and rain it upon him ^zinto his body.

24  ^aHe will flee from an iron weapon;

^ba bronze arrow will strike ^chim through.

25  It ^dis drawn forth and comes out of his body;

^ethe glittering point comes out of his ^fgallbladder;

^gterrors come upon him.

26  Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures;

^ha fire not fanned will devour him;

what is left in his tent will be consumed.

27  ⁱThe heavens will reveal his iniquity,

and the earth will rise up against him.

28  The possessions of his house will be carried away,

dragged off in the day of God’s² wrath.

29  ^jThis is the wicked man’s portion from God,

^jthe heritage decreed for him by God.”

2  ^k“Keep listening to my words,

and let this be your comfort.

3  Bear with me, and I will speak,

and after I have spoken, ^lmock on.

4  As for me, is my ^mcomplaint against man?

Why should I not be impatient?

5  Look at me and be appalled,

and ⁿlay your hand over your mouth.

6  When I remember, I am dismayed,

and shuddering seizes my flesh.

7  ^oWhy do the wicked live,

reach old age, and grow mighty in power?

8  Their ^poffspring are established in their presence,

and their descendants before their eyes.

9  Their houses are ^qsafe from fear,

and ^rno rod of God is upon them.

10  Their bull breeds without fail;

their cow calves and ^sdoes not miscarry.

11  They send out their ^tlittle boys like a flock,

and their children dance.

12  They sing to ^uthe tambourine and ^vthe lyre

and rejoice to the sound of ^vthe pipe.

13  They ^wspend their days in prosperity,

and in ^xpeace they go down to ^ySheol.

14  They say to God, ^z‘Depart from us!

We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.

15  ^aWhat is the Almighty, that we should serve him?

And what ^bprofit do we get if we pray to him?’

16  Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?

^cThe counsel of the wicked is far from me.

17  “How often is it that ^dthe lamp of the wicked is put out?

That their calamity comes upon them?

That God¹ distributes pains in his anger?

18  That they are like ^estraw before the wind,

and like ^fchaff that the storm carries away?

19  You say, ‘God ^gstores up their iniquity for their ^hchildren.’

Let him pay it out to them, that they may ⁱknow it.

20  Let their own eyes see their destruction,

and let them ^jdrink of the wrath of the Almighty.

21  For what do they care for their houses after them,

when ^kthe number of their months is cut off?

22  ^lWill any teach God knowledge,

seeing that he ^mjudges those who are on high?

23  One dies in his full vigor,

being wholly at ease and secure,

24  his pails² full of milk

and ⁿthe marrow of his bones moist.

25  Another dies in ^obitterness of soul,

never having tasted of prosperity.

26  They ^plie down alike in the dust,

and ^qthe worms cover them.

27  “Behold, I know your thoughts

and your schemes to wrong me.

28  For you say, ^r‘Where is the house of the prince?

Where is ^sthe tent in which the wicked lived?’

29  Have you not asked those who travel the roads,

and do you not accept their testimony

30  that ^tthe evil man is spared in the day of calamity,

that he is rescued in the day of wrath?

31  Who declares his way ^uto his face,

and who ^vrepays him for what he has done?

32  When he is ^wcarried to the grave,

watch is kept over his tomb.

33  ^xThe clods of the valley are sweet to him;

^yall mankind follows after him,

and those who go before him are innumerable.

34  How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?

There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”