Job 15:17–35

¹⁷Now listen, Job, to what I know.

¹⁸Those who are wise have taught me truths

which they learnt from their ancestors,

and they kept no secrets hidden.

¹⁹Their land was free from foreigners;

there was no one to lead them away from God.

²⁰The wicked who oppress others

will be in torment as long as they live.

²¹Voices of terror will scream in their ears,

and robbers attack when they think they are safe.

²²They have no hope of escaping from darkness,

for somewhere a sword is waiting to kill them,

²³and vultures^c are waiting^d to eat their corpses.

They know their future is dark;

²⁴disaster, like a powerful king,

is waiting to attack them.

²⁵That is the fate of those

who shake their fists at God

and defy the Almighty.

^26–27They are proud and rebellious;

they stubbornly hold up their shields

and rush to fight against God.

²⁸They are the ones who captured cities

and seized houses whose owners had fled,

but war will destroy those cities and houses.

²⁹They will not remain rich for long;

nothing they own will last.

Even their shadows^e will vanish,

³⁰and they will not escape from darkness.

They will be like trees

whose branches are burnt by fire,

whose blossoms^f are blown away by the wind.

³¹If they are foolish enough to trust in evil,

then evil will be their reward.

³²Before their time is up they will wither,^g

wither like a branch and never be green again.

³³They will be like vines that lose their unripe grapes;

like olive trees that drop their blossoms.

³⁴There will be no descendants for godless people,

and fire will destroy the homes built by bribery.

³⁵These are the ones who plan trouble and do evil;

their hearts are always full of deceit.