The Condition of the Wicked

7 “May my enemy be like the wicked,

my adversary like the unrighteous.

8  For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off,

when God takes away his life?

9  Does God listen to his cry

when distress overtakes him?

10  Will he find delight in the Almighty?

Will he call out to God at all times?

11  I will teach you about the power of God;

What is on the Almighty’s mind I will not conceal.

12  If you yourselves have all seen this,

Why in the world do you continue this meaningless talk?

13  This is the portion of the wicked man

allotted by God,

the inheritance that evildoers receive

from the Almighty.

14  If his children increase – it is for the sword!

His offspring never have enough to eat.

15  Those who survive him are buried by the plague,

and their widows do not mourn for them.

16  If he piles up silver like dust

and stores up clothing like mounds of clay,

17  what he stores up a righteous man will wear,

and an innocent man will inherit his silver.

18  The house he builds is as fragile as a moth’s cocoon,

like a hut that a watchman has made.

19  He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more.

When he opens his eyes, it is all gone.

20  Terrors overwhelm him like a flood;

at night a whirlwind carries him off.

21  The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;

it sweeps him out of his place.

22  It hurls itself against him without pity

as he flees headlong from its power.

23  It claps its hands at him in derision

and hisses him away from his place.

28 “Surely there is a mine for silver,

and a place where gold is refined.

2  Iron is taken from the ground,

and rock is poured out as copper.

3  Man puts an end to the darkness;

he searches the farthest recesses

for the ore in the deepest darkness.

4  Far from where people live he sinks a shaft,

in places travelers have long forgotten,

far from other people he dangles and sways.

5  The earth, from which food comes,

is overturned below as though by fire;

6  a place whose stones are sapphires

and which contains dust of gold;

7  a hidden path no bird of prey knows –

no falcon’s eye has spotted it.

8  Proud beasts have not set foot on it,

and no lion has passed along it.

9  On the flinty rock man has set to work with his hand;

he has overturned mountains at their bases.

10  He has cut out channels through the rocks;

his eyes have spotted every precious thing.

11  He has searched the sources of the rivers

and what was hidden he has brought into the light.