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17 “I will show you, listen to me;
    that which I have seen I will declare
18 (which wise men have told by their fathers,
    and have not hidden it;
19 to whom alone the land was given,
    and no stranger passed among them):
20 the wicked man writhes in pain all his days,
    even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.
21 A sound of terrors is in his ears.
    In prosperity the destroyer will come on him.
22 He doesn’t believe that he will return out of darkness.
    He is waited for by the sword.
23 He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
    He knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24 Distress and anguish make him afraid.
    They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God,
    and behaves himself proudly against the Almighty,
26 he runs at him with a stiff neck,
    with the thick shields of his bucklers,
27 because he has covered his face with his fatness,
    and gathered fat on his thighs.
28 He has lived in desolate cities,
    in houses which no one inhabited,
    which were ready to become heaps.
29 He will not be rich, neither will his substance continue,
    neither will their possessions be extended on the earth.
30 He will not depart out of darkness.
    The flame will dry up his branches.
    He will go away by the breath of God’s mouth.
31 Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself;
    for emptiness will be his reward.
32 It will be accomplished before his time.
    His branch will not be green.
33 He will shake off his unripe grape as the vine,
    and will cast off his flower as the olive tree.
34 For the company of the godless will be barren,
    and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
35 They conceive mischief and produce iniquity.
    Their heart prepares deceit.”

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17 “If you will listen, I will show you.
    I will answer you from my own experience.
18 And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men
    who have heard the same thing from their fathers—
19 from those to whom the land was given
    long before any foreigners arrived.

20 “The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives.
    Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless.
21 The sound of terror rings in their ears,
    and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.
22 They dare not go out into the darkness
    for fear they will be murdered.
23 They wander around, saying, ‘Where can I find bread?’[a]
    They know their day of destruction is near.
24 That dark day terrifies them.
    They live in distress and anguish,
    like a king preparing for battle.
25 For they shake their fists at God,
    defying the Almighty.
26 Holding their strong shields,
    they defiantly charge against him.

27 “These wicked people are heavy and prosperous;
    their waists bulge with fat.
28 But their cities will be ruined.
    They will live in abandoned houses
    that are ready to tumble down.
29 Their riches will not last,
    and their wealth will not endure.
    Their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon.

30 “They will not escape the darkness.
    The burning sun will wither their shoots,
    and the breath of God will destroy them.
31 Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches,
    for emptiness will be their only reward.
32 They will be cut down in the prime of life;
    their branches will never again be green.
33 They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early,
    like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form.
34 For the godless are barren.
    Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn.
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
    Their womb produces deceit.”

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Footnotes

  1. 15:23 Greek version reads He is appointed to be food for a vulture.