While it [is] yet green [and] not cut down, It withers before any [other] plant.

So [are] the paths of all who forget God; And the hope of the hypocrite shall perish,

That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the hypocrite is [but] for a moment?

[Yet] he will perish forever like his own refuse; Those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'

I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a native green tree.

Yet he passed away, and behold, he [was] no [more;] Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.

Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks,

Till an arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, He did not know it [would cost] his life.

Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.

" But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.

"For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.

For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.