13 “Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
    the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:(A)
14 However many his children,(B) their fate is the sword;(C)
    his offspring will never have enough to eat.(D)
15 The plague will bury those who survive him,
    and their widows will not weep for them.(E)
16 Though he heaps up silver like dust(F)
    and clothes like piles of clay,(G)
17 what he lays up(H) the righteous will wear,(I)
    and the innocent will divide his silver.(J)
18 The house(K) he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,(L)
    like a hut(M) made by a watchman.
19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;(N)
    when he opens his eyes, all is gone.(O)
20 Terrors(P) overtake him like a flood;(Q)
    a tempest snatches him away in the night.(R)
21 The east wind(S) carries him off, and he is gone;(T)
    it sweeps him out of his place.(U)
22 It hurls itself against him without mercy(V)
    as he flees headlong(W) from its power.(X)
23 It claps its hands(Y) in derision
    and hisses him out of his place.”(Z)

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13 “This is what the wicked will receive from God;
    this is their inheritance from the Almighty.
14 They may have many children,
    but the children will die in war or starve to death.
15 Those who survive will die of a plague,
    and not even their widows will mourn them.

16 “Evil people may have piles of money
    and may store away mounds of clothing.
17 But the righteous will wear that clothing,
    and the innocent will divide that money.
18 The wicked build houses as fragile as a spider’s web,[a]
    as flimsy as a shelter made of branches.
19 The wicked go to bed rich
    but wake to find that all their wealth is gone.
20 Terror overwhelms them like a flood,
    and they are blown away in the storms of the night.
21 The east wind carries them away, and they are gone.
    It sweeps them away.
22 It whirls down on them without mercy.
    They struggle to flee from its power.
23 But everyone jeers at them
    and mocks them.

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Footnotes

  1. 27:18 As in Greek and Syriac versions (see also 8:14); Hebrew reads a moth.