² 
“Listen carefully to my speech,
And let this be the consolation.
³ 
“Bear with me, and I also will speak;
And after I have spoken, you may [continue to] mock [me].
⁴ 
“As for me, is my complaint to man or about him?
And why should I not be impatient and my spirit troubled?
⁵ 
“Look at me and be astonished and appalled;
And put your hand over your mouth.
⁶ 
“Even when I remember, I am troubled and afraid;
Horror and trembling take hold of my flesh.
⁷ 
“Why do the wicked still live,
Become old, and become mighty in power?
⁸ 
“Their children and descendants are established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes.
⁹ 
“Their houses are safe from fear;
And the rod of God is not on them.
¹⁰ 
“His bull breeds and does not fail;
His cow calves and does not miscarry.
¹¹ 
“They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children skip about.
¹² 
“They lift up their voices and sing to the tambourine and the lyre
And rejoice to the sound of the flute.
¹³ 
“They fully enjoy their days in prosperity,
And so go down to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) in a [peaceful] moment.
¹⁴ 
“Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us,
For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.
¹⁵ 
‘Who [and what] is ^[a]the Almighty, that we should serve Him?
And what would we gain if we plead with Him?’^(A)
16 
“But notice, the prosperity of the wicked is not in their hand (in their power);
The counsel of the wicked [and the mystery of God’s dealings with the ungodly] is far from my comprehension.

¹⁷ 
“How often [then] is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out,
And that their disaster falls on them?
Does God distribute pain and destruction and sorrow [to them] in His anger?^(B)
18 
“Are they like straw before the wind,
And like chaff that the storm steals and carries away?
¹⁹ 
“You say, ‘God stores away [the punishment of] man’s wickedness for his children.’
Let God repay him so that he may know and experience it.
²⁰ 
“Let his own eyes see his destruction,
And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
²¹ 
“For what pleasure does he have in his house and family after he is dead,
When the number of his months [of life] is cut off?
²² 
“Can anyone teach God knowledge,
Seeing that He judges those on high?^(C)
23 
“One dies in his full strength,
Being wholly at ease and quiet and satisfied;
²⁴ 
His pails are full of milk [his sides are filled out with fat],
And the marrow of his bones is moist,
²⁵ 
Whereas another dies with a bitter soul,
Never even tasting pleasure or good fortune.
²⁶ 
“Together they lie down in the dust,
And the worms cover them.

²⁷ 
“Behold, I know your thoughts,
And the plots by which you would wrong me.
²⁸ 
“For you say, ‘Where is the house of the noble man?
And where is the tent, the dwelling place of the wicked?’
²⁹ 
“Have you not asked those who travel this way,
And do you not recognize their witness?
³⁰ 
“That evil men are [now] reserved for the day of disaster and destruction,
They will be led away on the day of [God’s] wrath?
³¹ 
“But who will confront him with his actions and rebuke him face to face,
And who will repay him for what he has done?
³² 
“When he is carried to his grave,
A guard will keep watch over his tomb.
³³ 
“The [dirt] clods of the valley are sweet to him [and gently cover him],
Moreover, all men will follow after him [to a grave],
While countless ones go before him.
³⁴ 
“How then can you vainly comfort me with empty words,
Since your answers remain untrue?”