16. “Of course, evil people don’t make their own success. I would never follow their advice.
17. But how often does God blow out their light? How often does trouble come to them? How often does God get angry with them and punish them?
18. Does God blow them away, as the wind blows straw or as strong winds blow the grain husks?
19. But you say, ‘God is saving their punishment for their children.’ No! Let God punish the evil people themselves so that they will know what they have done!
20. Let them see their own punishment. Let them feel the anger of God All-Powerful.
21. When their life is finished and they are dead, they will not care about the family they leave behind.
22. “No one can teach God anything he doesn’t already know. God judges even those in high places.
23. One person dies after living a full and successful life, a life completely safe and comfortable,
24. with a body that was well fed and bones that were still strong.
25. But another person dies after a hard life that has made them bitter, never having enjoyed anything good.
26. In the end, both of these people will lie together in the dirt. The worms will cover them both.
27. “But I know what you are thinking, and I know you want to hurt me.
28. You might say, ‘Show me a good man’s house. Now, show me where evil people live.’
29. “Surely you have talked with travelers. Surely you will accept their stories.
30. Evil people are spared when disaster comes. They survive when God shows his anger.
31. No one criticizes them to their faces for how they lived. No one punishes them for the evil they have done.