Job 15:17-35

New King James Version

¹⁷ “I will tell you, hear me;
What I have seen I will declare,
¹⁸ What wise men have told,
Not hiding anything received ^(A)from their fathers,
¹⁹ To whom alone the ^[a]land was given,
And ^(B)no alien passed among them:
²⁰ The wicked man writhes with pain all his days,
^(C)And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.
^21 [b]Dreadful sounds are in his ears;
^(D)In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him.
²² He does not believe that he will ^(E)return from darkness,
For a sword is waiting for him.
²³ He ^(F)wanders about for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows ^(G)that a day of darkness is ready at his hand.
²⁴ Trouble and anguish make him afraid;
They overpower him, like a king ready for ^[c]battle.
²⁵ For he stretches out his hand against God,
And acts defiantly against the Almighty,
²⁶ Running stubbornly against Him
With his strong, embossed shield.

²⁷ “Though^(H) he has covered his face with his fatness,
And made his waist heavy with fat,
²⁸ He dwells in desolate cities,
In houses which no one inhabits,
Which are destined to become ruins.
²⁹ He will not be rich,
Nor will his wealth ^(I)continue,
Nor will his possessions overspread the earth.
³⁰ He will not depart from darkness;
The flame will dry out his branches,
And ^(J)by the breath of His mouth he will go away.
³¹ Let him not ^(K)trust in futile things, deceiving himself,
For futility will be his reward.
³² It will be accomplished ^(L)before his time,
And his branch will not be green.
³³ He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine,
And cast off his blossom like an olive tree.
³⁴ For the company of hypocrites will be barren,
And fire will consume the tents of bribery.
^35 (M)They conceive trouble and bring forth futility;
Their womb prepares deceit.”