² “My troubled thoughts force me to answer you.
    That’s because I’m very upset.
³ What you have just said dishonors me.
    So I really have to reply to you.

⁴ “I’m sure you must know how things have always been.
    They’ve been that way
    ever since human beings were placed on this earth.
⁵ Those who are evil are happy for only a short time.
    The joy of ungodly people lasts only for a moment.
⁶ Their pride might reach all the way up to the heavens.
    Their heads might touch the clouds.
⁷ But they will disappear forever,
    like the waste from their own bodies.
Anyone who has seen them will say,
    ‘Where did they go?’
⁸ Like a dream they will fly away.
    They will never be seen again.
    They will be driven away like visions in the night.
⁹ The eyes that saw them won’t see them anymore.
    Even their own families won’t remember them.
¹⁰ Their children must pay back what they took from poor people.
    Their own hands must give back the wealth they stole.
¹¹ They might feel young and very strong.
    But they will soon lie down in the dust of their graves.

¹² “Anything that is evil tastes sweet to them.
    They keep it under their tongues for a while.
¹³ They can’t stand to let it go.
    So they hold it in their mouths.
¹⁴ But their food will turn sour in their stomachs.
    It will become like the poison of a serpent inside them.
¹⁵ They will spit out the rich food they swallowed.
    God will make their stomachs throw it up.
¹⁶ They will suck the poison of a serpent.
    The fangs of an adder will kill them.
¹⁷ They won’t enjoy streams that flow with honey.
    They won’t enjoy rivers that flow with cream.
¹⁸ What they worked for they must give back
    before they can eat it.
    They won’t enjoy what they have earned.
¹⁹ They’ve crushed poor people and left them with nothing.
    They’ve taken over houses they didn’t even build.

²⁰ “No matter how much they have,
    they always long for more.
    But their treasure can’t save them.
²¹ There isn’t anything left for them to eat up.
    Their success won’t last.
²² While they are enjoying the good life,
    trouble will catch up with them.
    Terrible suffering will come on them.
²³ When they’ve filled their stomachs,
    God will pour out his great anger on them.
    He’ll strike them down with blow after blow.
²⁴ They might run away from iron weapons.
    But arrows that have bronze tips will wound them.
²⁵ They will pull the arrows out of their backs.
    They will remove the shining tips from their livers.
They will be filled with terror.
²⁶     Total darkness hides and waits for their treasures.
God will send a fire that will destroy them.
    It will burn up everything that’s left in their tents.
²⁷ Heaven will show their guilt to everyone.
    The earth will be a witness against them.
²⁸ A flood will carry their houses away.
    Rushing water will wash them away
    on the day when God judges.
²⁹ Now you know what God will do to sinful people.
    Now you know what he has planned for them.”