20  The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,

through all the oyears that are laid up for pthe ruthless.

21  qDreadful sounds are in his ears;

in rprosperity the destroyer will come upon him.

22  He does not believe that he will return out of darkness,

and he is marked for the sword.

23  He swanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’

He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;

24  distress and anguish terrify him;

they tprevail against him, like a king ready for battle.

25  Because he has stretched out his hand against God

and defies the Almighty,

26  urunning vstubbornly against him

with a thickly bossed shield;

27  because he has wcovered his face with his fat

and gathered fat upon his waist

28  and has lived in desolate cities,

in houses that none should inhabit,

which were ready to become heaps of ruins;

29  he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,

nor will his possessions spread over the earth;3

30  he will not depart from darkness;

the flame will dry up his shoots,

and by xthe breath of his mouth he will depart.

31  Let him not ytrust in emptiness, deceiving himself,

for emptiness will be his payment.