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18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

“How long will you hunt for words?
    Consider, and afterwards we will speak.
Why are we counted as animals,
    which have become unclean in your sight?
You who tear yourself in your anger,
    will the earth be forsaken for you?
    Or will the rock be removed out of its place?

“Yes, the light of the wicked will be put out.
    The spark of his fire won’t shine.
The light will be dark in his tent.
    His lamp above him will be put out.
The steps of his strength will be shortened.
    His own counsel will cast him down.
For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
    and he wanders into its mesh.
A snare will take him by the heel.
    A trap will catch him.
10 A noose is hidden for him in the ground,
    a trap for him on the path.
11 Terrors will make him afraid on every side,
    and will chase him at his heels.
12 His strength will be famished.
    Calamity will be ready at his side.
13 The members of his body will be devoured.
    The firstborn of death will devour his members.
14 He will be rooted out of the security of his tent.
    He will be brought to the king of terrors.
15 There will dwell in his tent that which is none of his.
    Sulfur will be scattered on his habitation.
16 His roots will be dried up beneath.
    His branch will be cut off above.
17 His memory will perish from the earth.
    He will have no name in the street.
18 He will be driven from light into darkness,
    and chased out of the world.
19 He will have neither son nor grandson among his people,
    nor any remaining where he lived.
20 Those who come after will be astonished at his day,
    as those who went before were frightened.
21 Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous.
    This is the place of him who doesn’t know God.”

Bildad Speaks

18 Then Bildad the Shuhite(A) replied:

How long until you stop talking?
Show some sense, and then we can talk.
Why are we regarded as cattle,
as stupid in your sight?
You who tear yourself in anger[a]
should the earth be abandoned on your account,
or a rock be removed from its place?

Yes, the light(B) of the wicked(C) is extinguished;
the flame of his fire does not glow.
The light in his tent grows dark,(D)
and the lamp beside him is put out.
His powerful stride is shortened,
and his own schemes trip him up.(E)
For his own feet lead him into a net,
and he strays into its mesh.
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(F)
and harass him at every step.
12 His strength is depleted;
disaster lies ready for him to stumble.[b]
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(G) is scattered over his home.
16 His roots below dry up,
and his branches above wither away.(H)
17 All memory(I) of him perishes from the earth;
he has no name anywhere.[c]
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.(J)
20 Those in the west are appalled(K) 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.(L)

Footnotes

  1. Job 18:4 Lit He who tears himself in his anger
  2. Job 18:12 Or disaster hungers for him
  3. Job 18:17 Or name in the streets