Job 18

Bildad Speaks

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite  * 18:1 Jb 2:11; 8:1; 25:1 replied:

2 How long until you stop talking?

Show some sense, and then we can talk.

3 Why are we regarded as cattle,

as stupid in your sight?

4 You who tear yourself in anger  * 18:4 Lit He who tears himself in his anger  —

should the earth be abandoned on your account,

or a rock be removed from its place?

5 Yes, the light  * 18:5 Jb 21:17; Pr 13:9; 24:20 of the wicked  * 18:5 Jb 3:17; 9:22; 11:20 is extinguished;

the flame of his fire does not glow.

6 The light in his tent grows dark,  * 18:6 Jb 8:22; 18:14; Ps 52:5

and the lamp beside him is put out.

7 His powerful stride is shortened,

and his own schemes trip him up.  * 18:7 Jb 5:13; Pr 4:12

8 For his own feet lead him into a net,

and he strays into its mesh.

9 A trap catches him by the heel;

a noose seizes him.

10 A rope lies hidden for him on the ground,

and a snare waits for him along the path.

11 Terrors frighten him on every side  * 18:11 Jb 20:25; 27:20; Jr 6:25

and harass him at every step.

12 His strength is depleted;

disaster lies ready for him to stumble.  * 18:12 Or disaster hungers for him

13 Parts of his skin are eaten away;

death’s firstborn consumes his limbs.

14 He is ripped from the security of his tent

and marched away to the king of terrors.

15 Nothing he owned remains in his tent.

Burning sulfur  * 18:15 Gn 19:24; Ps 11:6; Ezk 38:22 is scattered over his home.

16 His roots below dry up,

and his branches above wither away.  * 18:16 Is 5:24; Hs 9:16; Am 2:9

17 All memory  * 18:17 Ps 34:16; 109:13,15; Pr 10:7 of him perishes from the earth;

he has no name anywhere.  * 18:17 Or name in the streets

18 He is driven from light to darkness

and chased from the inhabited world.

19 He has no children or descendants among his people,

no survivor where he used to live.  * 18:19 Gn 21:23; Is 14:22; Lm 2:22

20 Those in the west are appalled  * 18:20 Jr 2:12; Ezk 27:35; 32:10 at his fate,

while those in the east tremble in horror.

21 Indeed, such is the dwelling of the unjust man,

and this is the place of the one who does not know God.  * 18:21 Jb 21:28; Jr 9:3; 1Th 4:5