4. “These are the people we made fun of. We thought they were a joke. What fools we were! We thought they were mad to live in the way they did, and when they died, we didn't honour them.
5. And now here they are, God's own children, with a place of their own among God's people.
6. We were the ones who wandered off the right road. We never lived in the light of righteousness; we never caught the first glimmer of its light.
7. All our lives we wandered across unmarked deserts, instead of following the road which the Lord wanted us to travel. And this lawlessness led us to ruin.
8. We were so proud of ourselves — we bragged about how rich we were — and now, what good has it done us?
9. All those things are gone now; they have disappeared like a shadow, like something you hear and then forget.
10. “A ship sails across the waves of the ocean, but when it is gone, it leaves no trace. You cannot tell it was ever there.
11. A bird flies through the air, but leaves no sign that it has been there. It speeds along, riding through the thin air by the force of its wings, leaving behind no trace of its passing.
12. An arrow splits the air when it is shot at a target, but at once the air closes up behind it, and no one can tell where it passed.
13. It is the same with us — we were born, and then we ceased to be. We left no sign of virtue behind us; we were destroyed by our wickedness.”
14. What hope do wicked people have? Only the hope of straw blown about in the wind, the hope of ocean foam that disappears in the storm, the hope of smoke in the breeze. Their hope lasts no longer than our memory of a guest who stays one day and leaves the next.
15. But the righteous live on for ever. The Lord will reward them; the Most High will protect them.
16. He will give them royal splendour and a magnificent crown. He will shield them with his powerful arm.
17. He will go out into battle determined to defeat his enemies, and use the creation itself as a weapon.
18. Righteousness will be his armour, genuine justice will be his helmet,
19. holiness will be his invincible shield.
20. He will sharpen his stern anger into a sword, and the forces of nature will join him in battle against those who are foolish enough to oppose him.