17. I will show you, hear me; and that which I have seen I will relate,
18. What wise men have not hid but have freely communicated; it was told to them by their fathers,
19. Unto whom alone the land was given, and no stranger intruded or passed among them [corrupting the truth].
20. The wicked man suffers with [self-inflicted] torment all his days, through all the years that are numbered and laid up for him, the oppressor.
21. A [dreadful] sound of terrors is in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him [the dwellings of robbers are not at peace].
22. He believes that he will not return out of darkness, and [because of his guilt] he is waited for by the sword [of God's vengeance].
23. He wanders abroad for food, saying, Where is it? He knows that the day of darkness and destruction is already close upon him.
24. Distress and anguish terrify him; [he knows] they shall prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.
25. Because he has stretched out his hand against God and bids defiance and behaves himself proudly against the Almighty,
26. Running stubbornly against Him with a thickly ornamented shield;
27. Because he has covered his face with his fat, adding layers of fat on his loins [giving himself up to animal pleasures],
28. And has lived in desolate [God-forsaken] cities and in houses which no man should inhabit, which were destined to become heaps [of ruins];