20:2 “My troubled thoughts force me to answer you. That’s because I’m very upset.
20:3 What you have just said dishonors me. So I really have to reply to you.
20:4 “I’m sure you must know how things have always been. They’ve been that way ever since human beings were placed on this earth.
20:5 Those who are evil are happy for only a short time. The joy of ungodly people lasts only for a moment.
20:6 Their pride might reach all the way up to the heavens. Their heads might touch the clouds.
20:7 But they will disappear forever, like the waste from their own bodies. Anyone who has seen them will say, ‘Where did they go?’
20:8 Like a dream they will fly away. They will never be seen again. They will be driven away like visions in the night.
20:9 The eyes that saw them won’t see them anymore. Even their own families won’t remember them.
20:10 Their children must pay back what they took from poor people. Their own hands must give back the wealth they stole.
20:11 They might feel young and very strong. But they will soon lie down in the dust of their graves.
20:12 “Anything that is evil tastes sweet to them. They keep it under their tongues for a while.
20:13 They can’t stand to let it go. So they hold it in their mouths.
20:14 But their food will turn sour in their stomachs. It will become like the poison of a serpent inside them.
20:15 They will spit out the rich food they swallowed. God will make their stomachs throw it up.
20:16 They will suck the poison of a serpent. The fangs of an adder will kill them.
20:17 They won’t enjoy streams that flow with honey. They won’t enjoy rivers that flow with cream.
20:18 What they worked for they must give back before they can eat it. They won’t enjoy what they have earned.
20:19 They’ve crushed poor people and left them with nothing. They’ve taken over houses they didn’t even build.
20:20 “No matter how much they have, they always long for more. But their treasure can’t save them.
20:21 There isn’t anything left for them to eat up. Their success won’t last.
20:22 While they are enjoying the good life, trouble will catch up with them. Terrible suffering will come on them.
20:23 When they’ve filled their stomachs, God will pour out his great anger on them. He’ll strike them down with blow after blow.
20:24 They might run away from iron weapons. But arrows that have bronze tips will wound them.
20:25 They will pull the arrows out of their backs. They will remove the shining tips from their livers. They will be filled with terror.
20:26 Total darkness hides and waits for their treasures. God will send a fire that will destroy them. It will burn up everything that’s left in their tents.
20:27 Heaven will show their guilt to everyone. The earth will be a witness against them.
20:28 A flood will carry their houses away. Rushing water will wash them away on the day when God judges.
20:29 Now you know what God will do to sinful people. Now you know what he has planned for them.”
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