Job 15:17-35

Christian Standard Bible

¹⁷ Listen to me and I will inform you.
I will describe what I have seen,
¹⁸ what the wise have declared and not concealed,
that came from their ancestors,^(A)
19 to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them.
²⁰ A wicked person writhes in pain all his days,
throughout the number of years reserved for the ruthless.
²¹ Dreadful sounds fill his ears;
when he is at peace, a robber attacks him.
²² He doesn’t believe he will return from darkness;
he is destined for the sword.^(B)
23 He wanders about for food, asking, “Where is it?”
He knows the day of darkness is at hand.
²⁴ Trouble^(C) and distress terrify him,
overwhelming him like a king prepared for battle.
²⁵ For he has stretched out his hand^(D) against God
and has arrogantly opposed the Almighty.
²⁶ He rushes headlong at him
with his thick, studded shields.
²⁷ Though his face is covered with fat^[a]
and his waistline bulges with it,
²⁸ he will dwell in ruined cities,
in abandoned houses destined to become piles of rubble.^(E)
29 He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure.
His possessions^[b] will not increase in the land.
³⁰ He will not escape from the darkness;
flames will wither his shoots,
and by the breath of God’s mouth, he will depart.^(F)
31 Let him not put trust in worthless things, being led astray,
for what he gets in exchange will prove worthless.
³² It will be accomplished before his time,
and his branch will not flourish.
³³ He will be like a vine that drops its unripe grapes^(G)
and like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
³⁴ For the company of the godless^(H) will have no children,
and fire will consume the tents of those who offer bribes.
³⁵ They conceive trouble^(I) and give birth to evil;
their womb^(J) prepares deception.^(K)