² This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer,
because I am upset!^[a]
3 I have heard a rebuke that insults me,
and my understanding^[b] makes me reply.^(B)

⁴ Don’t you know that ever since antiquity,
from the time man was placed on earth,
⁵ the joy of the wicked has been brief
and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?^(C)
6 Though his arrogance reaches heaven,
and his head touches the clouds,^(D)
7 he will vanish forever like his own dung.
Those who know^[c] him will ask, “Where is he?”^(E)
8 He will fly away like a dream and never be found;
he will be chased away like a vision in the night.^(F)
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more,^(G)
and his household will no longer see him.^(H)
10 His children will beg from^[d] the poor,
for his own hands must give back his wealth.
¹¹ His bones may be full of youthful vigor,
but will lie down with him in the grave.^(I)

¹² Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth
and he conceals it under his tongue,
¹³ though he cherishes it and will not let it go
but keeps it in his mouth,^(J)
14 yet the food in his stomach turns
into cobras’ venom inside him.
¹⁵ He swallows wealth but must vomit it up;
God will force it from his stomach.
¹⁶ He will suck the poison of cobras;
a viper’s fangs^[e] will kill him.^(K)
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and cream.^(L)
18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;
he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.
¹⁹ For he oppressed and abandoned the poor;
he seized a house he did not build.^(M)

²⁰ Because his appetite is never satisfied,^[f]
he does not let anything he desires escape.
²¹ Nothing is left for him to consume;^(N)
therefore, his prosperity will not last.
²² At the height of his success^[g] distress will come to him;^(O)
the full weight of misery^[h] will crush him.
²³ When he fills his stomach,
God will send His burning anger against him,
raining^(P) it down on him while he is eating.^[i]
24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him.
²⁵ He pulls it out of his back,
the flashing tip out of his liver.^[j]
Terrors come over him.^(Q)
26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
A fire unfanned by human hands will consume^(R) him;
it will feed on what is left in his tent.
²⁷ The heavens will expose his iniquity,^(S)
and the earth will rise up against him.^(T)
28 The possessions in his house will be removed,
flowing away on the day of God’s anger.
²⁹ This is the wicked man’s lot^(U) from God,
the inheritance God ordained for him.

² Pay close attention to my words;
let this be the consolation you offer.
³ Bear with me while I speak;
then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking.

⁴ As for me, is my complaint^(V) against a man?
Then why shouldn’t I be impatient?
⁵ Look at me and shudder;^(W)
put your hand over your mouth.^(X)
6 When I think about it, I am terrified
and my body trembles^(Y) in horror.
⁷ Why do the wicked continue to live,
growing old and becoming powerful?
⁸ Their children are established while they are still alive,^[k]
and their descendants, before their eyes.
⁹ Their homes are secure and free of fear;^(Z)
no rod from God strikes them.^(AA)
10 Their bulls breed without fail;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
¹¹ They let their little ones run around like lambs;
their children skip about,
¹² singing to the tambourine and lyre
and rejoicing at the sound of the flute.^(AB)
13 They spend^[l] their days in prosperity^(AC)
and go down to Sheol in peace.
¹⁴ Yet they say to God: “Leave us alone!
We don’t want to know Your ways.^(AD)
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
and what will we gain by pleading with Him?”^(AE)
16 But their prosperity is not of their own doing.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!^(AF)

¹⁷ How often is the lamp^(AG) of the wicked put out?
Does disaster^[m] come on them?
Does He apportion destruction in His anger?
¹⁸ Are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff^(AH) a storm sweeps away?
¹⁹ God reserves a person’s punishment for his children.^(AI)
Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it.
²⁰ Let his own eyes see his demise;
let him drink from the Almighty’s wrath!^(AJ)
21 For what does he care about his family once he is dead,^(AK)
when the number of his months has run out?^(AL)

²² Can anyone teach God knowledge,^(AM)
since He judges the exalted ones?^[n]
23 One person dies in excellent health,^[o]
completely secure^[p] and at ease.
²⁴ His body is^[q] well fed,^[r]
and his bones are full of marrow.^[s]
25 Yet another person dies with a bitter^(AN) soul,
having never tasted prosperity.
²⁶ But they both lie in the dust,
and worms cover them.^(AO)

²⁷ I know your thoughts very well,
the schemes you would wrong me with.
²⁸ For you say, “Where now is the nobleman’s house?”
and “Where are the tents^(AP) the wicked lived in?”
²⁹ Have you never consulted those who travel the roads?
Don’t you accept their reports?^[t]
30 Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of disaster,
rescued from the day of wrath.
³¹ Who would denounce his behavior to his face?
Who would repay^(AQ) him for what he has done?
³² He is carried to the grave,
and someone keeps watch over his tomb.
³³ The dirt on his grave is^[u] sweet to him.
Everyone follows behind him,
and those who go before him are without number.

³⁴ So how can you offer me such futile comfort?
Your answers are deceptive.