3 Even though the ungodly have many children, none of them will amount to anything. Those bastard saplings will never put their roots down deep or be firmly established.
4 They may shoot up for a time like trees with lots of new branches, but the wind will shake them with ease, and the wind’s force will uproot the whole tree.
5 Even before the twigs have had a chance to bud, they will be broken off. Their fruit will be useless. It will never ripen and be fit to eat. It’ll be good for absolutely nothing.
6 Children born of sex outside the bounds of the Law will be called as witnesses against their parents’ illicit sex when the time for judgment comes.
7 In contrast, those who have done what is right will be at rest, even if they die an early death.
8 Those who are old aren’t honorable simply because time has passed. Old age isn’t measured by counting up a person’s years.
9 Wisdom and a spotless life are the marks of honorable maturity.