² “A wise man would not answer with empty words.
    He would not fill his stomach with hot, east wind.
³ He would not argue with useless words.
    He would not make speeches that have no value.
⁴ But you even break down the worship of God.
    You stand in the way of those who pray to him.
⁵ Your sin teaches your mouth what to say.
    You use the same words as people who trick others.
⁶ It is your own mouth, not mine, that shows you are wicked.
    Your own lips speak as a witness against you.

⁷ “You are not the first man ever born.
    You were not born before the hills were made.
⁸ You cannot listen in on God’s secret advice.
    You cannot limit wisdom to yourself.
⁹ You don’t know any more than we know.
    You don’t understand any more than we understand.
¹⁰ Old people with gray hair are on our side.
    They are men even older than your father.
¹¹ The comfort God gives you is not enough for you,
    even when words are spoken gently to you.
¹² Your heart has carried you away from God.
    Your eyes flash with anger.
¹³ You speak out your anger against God.
    And these words pour out of your mouth.

¹⁴ “How can man be pure?
    How can a person born to a woman be good?
¹⁵ God places no trust in his holy ones.
    Even the heavens are not pure in his eyes.
¹⁶ And man is even less than they are. He is terrible and rotten.
    He drinks up evil as if it were water!

¹⁷ “Job, listen to me, and I will tell you about it.
    I will tell you what I have seen.
¹⁸ These are things wise men have told.
    Their ancestors told them these things, and they have hidden nothing.
¹⁹ (The land was given to their fathers only.
    No foreigner lived among them.)
²⁰ The evil man suffers pain all his life.
    The cruel man suffers during all the years saved up for him.
²¹ Terrible sounds fill his ears.
    When things seem to be going well, robbers attack him.
²² The evil person gives up trying to escape from the darkness.
    It has been decided that he will die by the sword.
²³ He wanders around. He will become food for vultures.
    He knows death will soon come.
²⁴ Worry and suffering terrify him.
    They overwhelm him. They seem like a king ready to attack.
²⁵ This is because he shakes his fist at God.
    He tries to get his own way against God All-Powerful.
²⁶ He stubbornly charges at God
    with a thick, strong shield.

²⁷ “The evil person’s face is covered with fat.
    His waist is fat with flesh.
²⁸ He will live in towns that are ruined.
    He will live in houses where no one lives.
    They are houses that are crumbling into ruins.
²⁹ The evil person will no longer get rich.
    And the riches he has will not last.
    The things he owns will no longer spread over the land.
³⁰ He will not escape the darkness.
    A flame will dry up his branches.
    God’s breath will carry that evil person away.
³¹ The evil person should not fool himself by trusting what is useless.
    If he does, he will get nothing in return.
³² His branch will dry up before it finishes growing.
    It will not even become green.
³³ He will be like a vine whose grapes are pulled off before they are ripe.
    He will be like an olive tree that loses its blossoms.
³⁴ People without God can produce nothing.
    Fire will destroy the tents of people who take money to do evil.
³⁵ They plan trouble and give birth to evil.
    Their hearts plan ways to trick people.”