7
Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power?
8
They see their children established around them,
their offspring before their eyes.
9
Their homes are safe and free from fear;
the rod of God is not upon them.
10
Their bulls never fail to breed;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11
They send forth their children as a flock;
their little ones dance about.
12
They sing to the music of tambourine and harp;
they make merry to the sound of the flute.
13
They spend their years in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.
14
Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
We have no desire to know your ways.
15
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain by praying to him?’