² “A wise person would not answer with empty words
    or fill his stomach with the hot east wind.
³ He would not argue with useless words
    or make speeches that have no value.
⁴ But you even destroy respect for God
    and limit the worship of him.
⁵ Your sin teaches your mouth what to say;
    you use words to trick others.
⁶ It is your own mouth, not mine, that shows you are wicked;
    your own lips testify against you.

⁷ “You are not the first man ever born;
    you are not older than the hills.
⁸ You did not listen in on God’s secret council.
    But you limit wisdom to yourself.
⁹ You don’t know any more than we know.
    You don’t understand any more than we understand.
¹⁰ Old people with gray hair are on our side;
    they are even older than your father.
¹¹ Is the comfort God gives you not enough for you,
    even when words are spoken gently to you?
¹² Has your heart carried you away from God?
    Why do your eyes flash with anger?
¹³ Why do you speak out your anger against God?
    Why do these words pour out of your mouth?

¹⁴ “How can anyone be pure?
    How can someone born to a woman be good?
¹⁵ God places no trust in his holy ones,
    and even the heavens are not pure in his eyes.
¹⁶ How much less pure is one who is terrible and rotten
    and drinks up evil as if it were water!

¹⁷ “Listen to me, and I will tell you about it;
    I will tell you what I have seen.
¹⁸ These are things wise men have told;
    their ancestors told them, and they have hidden nothing.
¹⁹ (The land was given to their fathers only,
    and no foreigner lived among them.)
²⁰ The wicked suffer pain all their lives;
    the cruel suffer during all the years saved up for them.
²¹ Terrible sounds fill their ears,
    and when things seem to be going well, robbers attack them.
²² Evil people give up trying to escape from the darkness;
    it has been decided that they will die by the sword.
²³ They wander around and will become food for vultures.
    They know darkness will soon come.
²⁴ Worry and suffering terrify them;
    they overwhelm them, like a king ready to attack,
²⁵ because they shake their fists at God
    and try to get their own way against the Almighty.
²⁶ They stubbornly charge at God
    with thick, strong shields.

²⁷ “Although the faces of the wicked are thick with fat,
    and their bellies are fat with flesh,
²⁸ they will live in towns that are ruined,
    in houses where no one lives,
    which are crumbling into ruins.
²⁹ The wicked will no longer get rich,
    and the riches they have will not last;
    the things they own will no longer spread over the land.
³⁰ They will not escape the darkness.
    A flame will dry up their branches;
    God’s breath will carry the wicked away.
³¹ The wicked should not fool themselves by trusting what is useless.
    If they do, they will get nothing in return.
³² Their branches will dry up before they finish growing
    and will never turn green.
³³ They will be like a vine whose grapes are pulled off before they are ripe,
    like an olive tree that loses its blossoms.
³⁴ People without God can produce nothing.
    Fire will destroy the tents of those who take money to do evil,
³⁵ who plan trouble and give birth to evil,
    whose hearts plan ways to trick others.”