Job

 2 “Will a wise person answer with empty arguments,*

Or will he fill his belly with the east wind?

 3 Reproving with mere words is useless,

And talk alone is of no benefit.

 4 For you undermine the fear of God,

And you diminish any concern for God.

 5 For your error dictates what you say,*

And you choose crafty speech.

 6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;

Your own lips testify against you.+

 7 Were you the first man ever born,

Or was your birth before that of the hills?

 8 Do you listen to the confidential talk of God,

Or do you limit wisdom to yourself?

10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,+

Men much older than your father.

11 Are God’s consolations not enough for you,

Or words spoken gently to you?

12 Why does your heart carry you away,

And why do your eyes flash with anger?

13 For you turn your spirit against God himself,

And you allow such words to go out of your own mouth.

14 What is mortal man that he should be pure,

Or anyone born of a woman that he should be righteous?+

15 Look! He has no faith in his holy ones,

And even the heavens are not pure in his eyes.+

16 How much less so when a person is detestable and corrupt,+

A man who drinks in unrighteousness just like water!

I will relate what I have seen,

18 What wise men have related from their fathers,+

Things they have not hidden.

19 To them alone the land was given,

And no stranger passed among them.

20 A wicked person suffers torment all his days,

Throughout all the years reserved for the tyrant.

21 Terrifying sounds are in his ears;+

In a time of peace, marauders attack him.

22 He does not believe that he will escape from darkness;+

He is reserved for a sword.

24 Distress and anguish keep terrifying him;

They overpower him like a king ready to launch an attack.

25 For he raises his hand against God himself

And tries to defy* the Almighty;

26 He stubbornly rushes against Him,

With his thick, strong shield;*

27 His face is covered with fat,

And his hips bulge with fat;

28 He resides in cities that will be brought to ruin,

In houses where no one will dwell,

Which will become heaps of stones.

29 He will not grow rich, and his wealth will not accumulate,

Nor will his possessions spread over the land.

30 He will not escape from darkness;

A flame will dry up his twig,*

And he will pass away by a blast of God’s* mouth.+

31 He should not go astray and trust in what is worthless,

For what he gets in exchange will be worthless;

32 It will happen before his day,

And his branches will never flourish.+

33 He will be like a vine that shakes off its unripe grapes,

And like an olive tree that casts off its blossoms.

34 For the assembly of godless ones* is sterile,+

And fire will consume the tents of bribery.

35 They conceive trouble and give birth to what is wicked,

And their womb produces deceit.”