² “You upset me, so I must answer you.
    I must tell you what I am thinking.
³ You insulted me with your answers!
    But I am wise and know how to answer you.

^4-5 “You know that the joy of the wicked does not last long.
    That has been true a long time, ever since Adam was^[a] put on earth.
    Those who don’t know God are happy for only a short time.
⁶ Maybe an evil man’s pride will reach up to the sky,
    and his head will touch the clouds.
⁷ But he will be gone forever like his own body waste.
    People who knew him will say, ‘Where is he?’
⁸ Like a dream, he will fly away, never to be found.
    He will be chased away like a bad dream.^[b]
9 Those who knew him before will not see him again.
    His family will never again get to see him.
¹⁰ His children will have to give back what he took from the poor.
    His own hands will give up his wealth.
¹¹ When he was young, his bones were strong,
    but, like the rest of his body, they will soon lie in the dirt.

¹² “Evil tastes sweet in his mouth.
    He keeps it under his tongue to enjoy it fully.
¹³ He hates to let it go
    and holds it in his mouth.
¹⁴ But that evil will turn sour in his stomach.
    It will be like a snake’s bitter poison inside him.
¹⁵ The evil man will spit out the riches he has swallowed.
    God will make him vomit them up.
¹⁶ What he drank will be like a snake’s poison;
    it will kill him like the bite of a deadly snake.
¹⁷ He will never again enjoy so much wealth—
    rivers flowing with honey and cream.^[c]
18 He will be forced to give back his profits.
    He will not be allowed to enjoy what he worked for,
¹⁹ because he hurt the poor and left them with nothing.
    He took houses he did not build.

²⁰ “The evil man is never satisfied.
    But the things he wants cannot save him.
²¹ After filling himself, there is nothing left.
    His success will not continue.
²² Even while he has plenty, he will be pressed down with trouble.
    His problems will come down on him!
²³ If he does get all he wants,
    God will throw his burning anger against him.
    God will attack him and rain down punishment on him.
²⁴ Maybe he will run away from an iron sword,
    but then a bronze arrow^[d] will strike him down.
²⁵ It will go through his body
    and stick out of his back.
Its shining point will pierce his liver,
    and he will be shocked with terror.
²⁶ All his treasures will be lost in darkness.
    He will be destroyed by a fire, a fire that no human started.
    It will destroy everything left in his house.
²⁷ Heaven will prove that he is guilty.
    The earth will be a witness against him.
²⁸ His house and everything in it will be carried away
    in the flood of God’s anger.
²⁹ That is what God will do to those who are evil.
    That is what he plans to give them.”