⁴ “Surely you know how it has been from of old,^(A)
    ever since mankind^[a] was placed on the earth,
⁵ that the mirth of the wicked^(B) is brief,
    the joy of the godless^(C) lasts but a moment.^(D)
6 Though the pride^(E) of the godless person reaches to the heavens^(F)
    and his head touches the clouds,^(G)
7 he will perish forever,^(H) like his own dung;
    those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’^(I)
8 Like a dream^(J) he flies away,^(K) no more to be found,
    banished^(L) like a vision of the night.^(M)
9 The eye that saw him will not see him again;
    his place will look on him no more.^(N)