17. “Listen to me and I will explain to you; let me tell you what I have seen,
18. what the wise have declared, hiding nothing received from their ancestors
19. (to whom alone the land was given when no foreigners moved among them):
20. All his days the wicked man suffers torment, the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.
21. Terrifying sounds fill his ears; when all seems well, marauders attack him.
22. He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness; he is marked for the sword.
23. He wanders about for food like a vulture; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
24. Distress and anguish fill him with terror; troubles overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,
25. because he shakes his fist at God and vaunts himself against the Almighty,
26. defiantly charging against him with a thick, strong shield.
27. “Though his face is covered with fat and his waist bulges with flesh,
28. he will inhabit ruined towns and houses where no one lives, houses crumbling to rubble.
29. He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the land.
30. He will not escape the darkness; a flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.