² Bildad: How long will you keep up the hunt for words?
        Show some sense, and then we can actually converse.
³     Why is it we are like cattle to you,
        dumb animals in your eyes?
⁴     You speak of how God “tears at you,” you!
        You tear at yourself in your rage.
    Oh, how self-centered you are!
        Ought the earth be emptied of its inhabitants for your sake?
        Ought the rocks roll away for your convenience?

⁵     Remember, the flame of the wicked is extinguished.
        His fire no longer lends light to anything.
⁶     His tent-lamp goes dark;
        his bedside lamp flickers and dies.
⁷     His long strides falter, as his own plans take him down.
⁸         His then-weakened feet lead him to a net,
    And wander into its waiting mesh.
⁹     A snare clamps around his heel;
        he feels it dig into him.
¹⁰     This trap was set for him beforehand:
        a snare is hidden on the ground;
        a net is overhead along the path.
¹¹     Terrors press in on every side
        and badger his every step.
¹²     His deepest fears stalk him as he staggers, craving him,
        and awaiting his imminent collapse.
¹³     Bit by bit, disease eats at his skin;
        bit by bit, the firstborn of death gnashes at his limbs.
¹⁴     He is torn violently from the safety of his tent
        and forced to march before the king of terrors.

¹⁵ Bildad: Nothing of his remains in his tent,
        and burning sulfur has been scattered on it so no one will dwell there again.
¹⁶     Death comes from both directions:
        from below, his roots dry out;
        from above, his branches wither.
¹⁷     On the earth, he disappears from memory;
        on the outside, no one recalls his name.
¹⁸     He is pushed out of the light into darkness
        and chased from the inhabited world altogether.
¹⁹     He has no children, no descendants among his people;
        no one survives him or escapes from his homeland.
²⁰     His fate is unanimously viewed:
        with dismay in the West,
        with horror in the East.
²¹     Surely this is the way it goes with all evil people;
        surely this is the lot in life for those who do not know God.