²³ I wish that my words were written down,
that they were recorded on a scroll
²⁴ or were inscribed in stone forever
by an iron stylus and lead!
²⁵ But I know that my Redeemer lives,^[h](S)
and at the end he will stand on the dust.^(T)
26 Even after my skin has been destroyed,^[i]
yet I will see God in^[j] my flesh.^(U)
27 I will see him myself;
my eyes will look at him, and not as a stranger.^[k]
My heart longs^[l] within me.^(V)

²⁸ If you say, “How will we pursue him,
since the root of the problem lies with him?” ^[m]
29 then be afraid of the sword,
because wrath brings punishment by the sword,^(W)
so that you may know there is a judgment.

⁴ Don’t you know that ever since antiquity,
from the time a human was placed on earth,
⁵ the joy of the wicked has been brief
and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?^(C)
6 Though his arrogance reaches heaven,
and his head touches the clouds,^(D)
7 he will vanish forever like his own dung.
Those who know^[c] him will ask, “Where is he?” ^(E)
8 He will fly away like a dream and never be found;
he will be chased away like a vision in the night.^(F)
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more,^(G)
and his household will no longer see him.^(H)
10 His children will beg from^[d] the poor,
for his own hands must give back his wealth.
¹¹ His frame may be full of youthful vigor,
but it will lie down with him in dust.^(I)

¹² Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth
and he conceals it under his tongue,
¹³ though he cherishes it and will not let it go
but keeps it in his mouth,^(J)
14 yet the food in his stomach turns
into cobras’ venom inside him.
¹⁵ He swallows wealth but must vomit it up;
God will force it from his stomach.
¹⁶ He will suck the poison of cobras;
a viper’s fangs^[e] will kill him.^(K)
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and curds.^(L)
18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;
he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.
¹⁹ For he oppressed and abandoned the poor;
he seized a house he did not build.^(M)

²⁰ Because his appetite is never satisfied,^[f]
he does not let anything he desires escape.
²¹ Nothing is left for him to consume;^(N)
therefore, his prosperity will not last.
²² At the height of his success^[g] distress will come to him;^(O)
the full weight of misery^[h] will crush him.
²³ When he fills his stomach,
God will send his burning anger against him,
raining^(P) it down on him while he is eating.^[i]
24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him.
²⁵ He pulls it out of his back,
the flashing tip out of his liver.^[j]
Terrors come over him.^(Q)
26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
A fire unfanned by human hands will consume^(R) him;
it will feed on what is left in his tent.
²⁷ The heavens will expose his iniquity,^(S)
and the earth will rise up against him.^(T)
28 The possessions in his house will be removed,
flowing away on the day of God’s anger.
²⁹ This is the wicked person’s lot^(U) from God,
the inheritance God ordained for him.

⁴ As for me, is my complaint^(A) against a human being?
Then why shouldn’t I be impatient?
⁵ Look at me and shudder;^(B)
put your hand over your mouth.^(C)
6 When I think about it, I am terrified
and my body trembles^(D) in horror.
⁷ Why do the wicked continue to live,
growing old and becoming powerful?
⁸ Their children are established while they are still alive,^[a]
and their descendants, before their eyes.
⁹ Their homes are secure and free of fear;^(E)
no rod from God strikes them.^(F)
10 Their bulls breed without fail;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
¹¹ They let their little ones run around like lambs;
their children skip about,
¹² singing to the tambourine and lyre
and rejoicing at the sound of the flute.^(G)
13 They spend^[b] their days in prosperity^(H)
and go down to Sheol in peace.
¹⁴ Yet they say to God, “Leave us alone!
We don’t want to know your ways.^(I)
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him,
and what will we gain by pleading with him?” ^(J)
16 But their prosperity is not of their own doing.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!^(K)

¹⁷ How often is the lamp^(L) of the wicked put out?
Does disaster^[c] come on them?
Does he apportion destruction in his anger?
¹⁸ Are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff^(M) a storm sweeps away?
¹⁹ God reserves a person’s punishment for his children.^(N)
Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it.
²⁰ Let his own eyes see his demise;
let him drink from the Almighty’s wrath!^(O)
21 For what does he care about his family once he is dead,^(P)
when the number of his months has run out?^(Q)

²² Can anyone teach God knowledge,^(R)
since he judges the exalted ones?^[d]
23 One person dies in excellent health,^[e]
completely secure^[f] and at ease.
²⁴ His body is^[g] well fed,^[h]
and his bones are full of marrow.^[i]
25 Yet another person dies with a bitter^(S) soul,
having never tasted prosperity.
²⁶ But they both lie in the dust,
and worms cover them.^(T)

²⁷ I know your thoughts very well,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
²⁸ For you say, “Where now is the nobleman’s house?”
and “Where are the tents^(U) the wicked lived in?”
²⁹ Have you never consulted those who travel the roads?
Don’t you accept their reports?^[j]
30 Indeed, the evil person is spared from the day of disaster,
rescued from the day of wrath.
³¹ Who would denounce his behavior to his face?
Who would repay^(V) him for what he has done?
³² He is carried to the grave,
and someone keeps watch over his tomb.
³³ The dirt on his grave is^[k] sweet to him.
Everyone follows behind him,
and those who go before him are without number.

³⁴ So how can you offer me such futile comfort?
Your answers are deceptive.