17 ‘Listen to me and I will explain to you;let me tell you what I have seen,
18 what the wise have declared,hiding nothing received from their ancestors
19 (to whom alone the land was givenwhen no foreigners moved among them):
20 all his days the wicked man suffers torment,the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.
21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears;when all seems well, marauders attack him.
22 He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness;he is marked for the sword.
23 He wanders about for food like a vulture;he knows the day of darkness is at hand.