²⁷ “Look, I know what you’re thinking.
    I know the schemes you plot against me.

⁴ I have done nothing wrong,
    yet they prepare to attack me.
    Wake up! See what is happening and help me!

²⁹ This is the reward that God gives the wicked.
    It is the inheritance decreed by God.”

⁵ the triumph of the wicked has been short lived
    and the joy of the godless has been only temporary?

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.”