¹⁷ “I will show you; listen to me;
    what I have seen I will declare—
¹⁸ what sages have told
    and their ancestors have not hidden,^(A)
19 to whom alone the land was given,
    and no stranger passed among them.
²⁰ The wicked writhe in pain all their days,
    through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.^(B)
21 Terrifying sounds are in their ears;
    in prosperity the destroyer will come upon them.^(C)
22 They despair of returning from darkness,
    and they are destined for the sword.^(D)
23 They wander abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
    They know that a day of darkness is ready at hand;^(E)
24 distress and anguish terrify them;
    they prevail against them like a king prepared for battle.
²⁵ Because they stretched out their hands against God
    and bid defiance to the Almighty,^[a](F)
26 running stubbornly against him
    with a thickly bossed shield;
²⁷ because they have covered their faces with their fat
    and gathered fat upon their loins,^(G)
28 they will live in desolate cities,
    in houses that no one should inhabit,
    houses destined to become heaps of ruins;
²⁹ they will not be rich, and their wealth will not endure,
    nor will they strike root in the earth;^[b](H)
30 they will not escape from darkness;
    the flame will dry up their shoots,
    and their blossom^[c] will be swept away by the wind.^(I)
31 Let them not trust in emptiness, deceiving themselves,
    for emptiness will be their recompense.^(J)
32 It will be paid in full before their time,
    and their branch will not be green.^(K)
33 They will shake off their unripe grape, like the vine,
    and cast off their blossoms, like the olive tree.^(L)
34 For the company of the godless is barren,
    and fire consumes the tents of bribery.^(M)
35 They conceive mischief and bring forth evil,
    and their belly prepares deceit.”^(N)