²⁴ When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,^(A)
    he blindfolds its judges.^(B)
    If it is not he, then who is it?^(C)

⁶ When I think about this, I am terrified;^(A)
    trembling seizes my body.^(B)
7 Why do the wicked live on,
    growing old and increasing in power?^(C)
8 They see their children established around them,
    their offspring before their eyes.^(D)
9 Their homes are safe and free from fear;^(E)
    the rod of God is not on them.^(F)
10 Their bulls never fail to breed;
    their cows calve and do not miscarry.^(G)
11 They send forth their children as a flock;^(H)
    their little ones dance about.
¹² They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;^(I)
    they make merry to the sound of the pipe.^(J)
13 They spend their years in prosperity^(K)
    and go down to the grave^(L) in peace.^[a](M)
14 Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!^(N)
    We have no desire to know your ways.^(O)
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
    What would we gain by praying to him?’^(P)
16 But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.^(Q)

¹² This is what the wicked are like—
    always free of care,^(A) they go on amassing wealth.^(B)