In verses 17 through 34 Job asked a number of questions concerning God's recompense to the wicked.
Job began his questions by asking how often the lamp of the wicked is put out, so that their calamity comes upon them and God distributes sorrows in His anger (v. 17).
Job continued by asking whether the wicked become like straw before the wind and like chaff that the storm carries off (v. 18). Job would probably answer this question by saying that the wicked do not become like such straw and chaff.
Whereas some said that God stores up the punishment of the iniquity of the wicked for his children, Job said that God should recompense the wicked, so that he knows it (v. 19). Job continued by saying that the eyes of the wicked should see his destruction and that the wicked one should drink the wrath of the Almighty. After asking if someone will teach knowledge to God, seeing that He judges those who are on high, Job went on to say that the one who dies in his full strength and the one who dies in bitterness of soul both lie down in the dust, and the worm covers them (vv. 20-26).
Speaking to his friends, Job said that he knew their thoughts and devices to wrong him by saying, "Where is the house of the prince?/Where is the tent of the dwellings of the wicked?" (vv. 27-28). Then Job said that the travelers on the roads are the evidence that the wicked man is spared in the day of calamity and they are led forth in the day of overflowing wrath. Next, Job asked who would declare the way of the wicked one to his face and who would repay him what he has done. According to Job, when the wicked is borne to the grave and kept by a watch, the clods of the valley are sweet to him. Moreover, all men go in procession after him, and those who went before him are without number (vv. 29-33).
In verse 34 Job asked his friends why they comforted him with vanity, for their responses left only falsehood behind. This was the final word of Job's conclusion concerning prosperity and calamity in human life.