The Inevitable Fate of the Wicked

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"I will tell you - hear me out! I will recount what I have seen;

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wise men have told it, and it wasn't hidden from their fathers either,

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to whom alone the land was given -no foreigner passed among them.

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"The wicked is in torment all his life, for all the years allotted to the tyrant.

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Terrifying sounds are in his ears; in prosperity, robbers swoop down on him.

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He despairs of returning from darkness -he is destined to meet the sword.

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He wanders and looks for food, which isn't there. He knows the day of darkness is ready, at hand.

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Distress and anguish overwhelm him, assaulting him like a king about to enter battle.

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"He raises his hand against God and boldly defies Shaddai,

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running against him with head held high and thickly ornamented shield.

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"He lets his face grow gross and fat, and the rest of him bulges with blubber;

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he lives in abandoned cities, in houses no one would inhabit, houses about to become ruins;

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therefore he will not remain rich, his wealth will not endure, his produce will not bend [the grain stalks] to the earth.

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"He will not escape from darkness. The flame will dry up his branches. By a breath from the mouth of [God], he will go away.

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Let him not rely on futile methods, thereby deceiving himself; for what he will receive in exchange will be only futility.

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This will be accomplished in advance of its day. His palm frond will not be fresh and green;

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he will be like a vine that sheds its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that drops its flowers.

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"For the community of the ungodly is sterile; fire consumes the tents of bribery.

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They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb prepares deceit."