16. In the dark, thieves break into houses,but by day they shut themselves in;they want nothing to do with the light.
17. For all of them, midnight is their morning;they make friends with the terrors of darkness.
18. ‘Yet they are foam on the surface of the water;their portion of the land is cursed,so that no one goes to the vineyards.
19. As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.
20. The womb forgets them,the worm feasts on them;the wicked are no longer rememberedbut are broken like a tree.
21. They prey on the barren and childless woman,and to the widow they show no kindness.
22. But God drags away the mighty by his power;though they become established, they have no assurance of life.
23. He may let them rest in a feeling of security,but his eyes are on their ways.
24. For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;they are brought low and gathered up like all others;they are cut off like ears of corn.
25. ‘If this is not so, who can prove me falseand reduce my words to nothing?’