² “Therefore my anxious thoughts make me answer,
Because of the turmoil within me.
³ I have heard the rebuke ^[a]that reproaches me,
And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer.

⁴ “Do you not know this of ^(B)old,
Since man was placed on earth,
^5 (C)That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a ^(D)moment?
^6 (E)Though his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens,
And his head reaches to the clouds,
⁷ Yet he will perish forever like his own refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
⁸ He will fly away ^(F)like a dream, and not be found;
Yes, he ^(G)will be chased away like a vision of the night.
⁹ The eye that saw him will see him no more,
Nor will his place behold him anymore.
¹⁰ His children will seek the favor of the poor,
And his hands will restore his wealth.
¹¹ His bones are full of ^(H)his youthful vigor,
^(I)But it will lie down with him in the dust.

¹² “Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
And he hides it under his tongue,
¹³ Though he spares it and does not forsake it,
But still keeps it in his ^[b]mouth,
¹⁴ Yet his food in his stomach turns sour;
It becomes cobra venom 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;
The viper’s tongue will slay him.
¹⁷ He will not see ^(J)the streams,
The rivers flowing with honey and cream.
¹⁸ He will restore that for which he labored,
And will not swallow it down;
From the proceeds of business
He will get no enjoyment.
¹⁹ For he has ^[c]oppressed and forsaken the poor,
He has violently seized a house which he did not build.

²⁰ “Because^(K) he knows no quietness in his ^[d]heart,
He will not save anything he desires.
²¹ Nothing is left for him to eat;
Therefore his well-being will not last.
²² In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress;
Every hand of ^[e]misery will come against him.
²³ When he is about to fill his stomach,
God will cast on him the fury of His wrath,
And will rain it on him while he is eating.
^24 (L)He will flee from the iron weapon;
A bronze bow will pierce him through.
²⁵ It is drawn, and comes out of the body;
Yes, ^(M)the glittering point comes out of his ^[f]gall.
^(N)Terrors come upon him;
²⁶ Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
^(O)An unfanned fire will consume him;
It shall go ill with him who is left in his tent.
²⁷ The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
And the earth will rise up against him.
²⁸ The increase of his house will depart,
And his goods will flow away in the day of His ^(P)wrath.
^29 (Q)This is the portion from God for a wicked man,
The heritage appointed to him by God.”