¹Then the righteous will stand up with great confidence

to confront those who have persecuted them

and ridiculed their actions.

²Those who see the righteous will tremble with terrible fear

and will be surprised and amazed at their salvation.

³They will speak to each other with words of repentance.

They will groan in anguish and say,

⁴“These are the people we once derided!

We were fools to reproach them.

We thought they were crazy;

we thought they died without honor.

⁵Look, now they are regarded as children of God.

They are listed among the saints.

⁶We were the ones who strayed from the truth.

The light of righteousness has not shined on us,

and the sun has not risen upon us.

⁷We took all the paths of wickedness and destruction

and walked through the wilderness,

but we did not find the way of the Lord.

⁸“But how has our pride helped us?

What has our boasting about riches gained us?

⁹All those things have passed away like a shadow

and like a fleeting rumor.

¹⁰They have vanished like a ship passing through the waves,

leaving no trace of its passage,

no track of its path in the waves.

¹¹They are like a bird flying through the air,

leaving no evidence of its passage—

only the sound of wings beating the light air,

parting the air by the force of its flight.

It moves its wings and passes through,

yet it leaves no trace of its path.

¹²They are like an arrow shot at a target.

The air divides and comes together again,

so that no one knows its route.

¹³So it is with us; we die almost as soon as we are born.

And we have left nothing of virtue behind,

for we were consumed by our wickedness.”

¹⁴The hope of the wicked is like thistledown blown by the wind

or like foam blown by a storm.

It is like smoke dissipated by the wind.

It is soon forgotten like the memory of a one-day guest.

¹⁵But the righteous will live forever,

and their reward is in the Lord’s keeping.

The Most High takes care of them.

¹⁶Therefore, they will receive a glorious crown,

a beautiful diadem from the Lord.

For he will cover them with his right hand,

and he will shield them with his arm.

¹⁷The Lord will use his zeal as armor

and all creation as a weapon against his enemies.

¹⁸He will put on righteousness as body armor,

and he will wear impartial justice as a helmet.

¹⁹He will take holiness for an invincible shield,

²⁰and he will sharpen his stern wrath as a sword.

All creation will join his fight against his frantic enemies.

²¹Shafts of lightning will strike with pinpoint accuracy,

shooting from the clouds like arrows from a fully drawn bow.

²²Hailstones of wrath will be catapulted upon the enemy.

The sea will rage against them,

and the rivers will flood them in a torrent.

²³A mighty wind will blow over them,

and like a whirlwind it will winnow them.

So lawlessness will destroy the earth,

and wickedness will overthrow rulers.