9What do you know that we don’t?
What do you understand that we do not?
10On our side are aged, gray-haired men
much older than your father!
11“Is God’s comfort too little for you?
Is his gentle word not enough?
12What has taken away your reason?
What has weakened your vision,
13that you turn against God
and say all these evil things?
14Can any mortal be pure?
Can anyone born of a woman be just?
15Look, God does not even trust the angels.
Even the heavens are not absolutely pure in his sight.
16How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person
with a thirst for wickedness!
17“If you will listen, I will show you.
I will answer you from my own experience.
18And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men
who have heard the same thing from their fathers—
19from 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.
21The sound of terror rings in their ears,
and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.
22They dare not go out into the darkness
for fear they will be murdered.
23They wander around, saying, ‘Where can I find bread?’
They know their day of destruction is near.
24That dark day terrifies them.
They live in distress and anguish,
like a king preparing for battle.
25For they shake their fists at God,
defying the Almighty.
26Holding their strong shields,
they defiantly charge against him.
27“These wicked people are heavy and prosperous;
their waists bulge with fat.
28But their cities will be ruined.
They will live in abandoned houses
that are ready to tumble down.
29Their 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.
31Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches,
for emptiness will be their only reward.
32Like trees, they will be cut down in the prime of life;
their branches will never again be green.
33They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early,
like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form.
34For the godless are barren.
Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn.
35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
Their womb produces deceit.”
