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Bildad’s Second Response to Job

18 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

“How long before you stop talking?
    Speak sense if you want us to answer!
Do you think we are mere animals?
    Do you think we are stupid?
You may tear out your hair in anger,
    but will that destroy the earth?
    Will it make the rocks tremble?

“Surely the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.
    The sparks of their fire will not glow.
The light in their tent will grow dark.
    The lamp hanging above them will be quenched.
The confident stride of the wicked will be shortened.
    Their own schemes will be their downfall.
The wicked walk into a net.
    They fall into a pit.
A trap grabs them by the heel.
    A snare holds them tight.
10 A noose lies hidden on the ground.
    A rope is stretched across their path.

11 “Terrors surround the wicked
    and trouble them at every step.
12 Hunger depletes their strength,
    and calamity waits for them to stumble.
13 Disease eats their skin;
    death devours their limbs.
14 They are torn from the security of their homes
    and are brought down to the king of terrors.
15 The homes of the wicked will burn down;
    burning sulfur rains on their houses.
16 Their roots will dry up,
    and their branches will wither.
17 All memory of their existence will fade from the earth;
    no one will remember their names.
18 They will be thrust from light into darkness,
    driven from the world.
19 They will have neither children nor grandchildren,
    nor any survivor in the place where they lived.
20 People in the west are appalled at their fate;
    people in the east are horrified.
21 They will say, ‘This was the home of a wicked person,
    the place of one who rejected God.’”

Bildad Speaks of the Downfall of the Wicked

18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,

“How long until you put an end to your words?
Show understanding and then we can talk.
Why are we (A)regarded as beasts,
As dense in your eyes?
O [a]you who tear yourself in your anger—
For your sake is the earth to be forsaken,
Or the rock to be moved from its place?

“Indeed, the (B)light of the wicked goes out,
And the [b]flame of his fire gives no light.
The light in his tent is (C)darkened,
And his lamp goes out above him.
His [c]vigorous stride is shortened,
And his (D)own counsel brings him down.
For he is (E)thrown into the net by his own feet,
And he steps on the netting.
A snare seizes him by the heel,
And a device snaps shut on him.
10 A rope for him is hidden in the ground,
And a trap for him on the path.
11 All around (F)terrors frighten him,
And (G)harass him at every step.
12 His vigor is (H)famished,
And disaster is ready at his side.
13 The firstborn of death eats parts of his skin;
It (I)eats parts of him.
14 He is (J)torn from [d]the security of his tent,
And [e]they march him in step before the king of (K)terrors.
15 [f]There dwells in his tent nothing of his;
(L)Brimstone is scattered on his abode.
16 His (M)roots are dried below,
And his (N)branch is cut off above.
17 (O)Memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name abroad.
18 [g]He is driven from light (P)into darkness,
And (Q)chased from the inhabited world.
19 He has neither (R)offspring nor posterity among his people,
Nor any survivor where he sojourned.
20 Those [h]in the west are appalled at (S)his [i]fate,
And those [j]in the east are seized with horror.
21 Surely such are the (T)dwellings of the unjust,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 18:4 Lit he...tears himself...his
  2. Job 18:5 Lit spark
  3. Job 18:7 Lit steps of his strength
  4. Job 18:14 Lit his tent his trust
  5. Job 18:14 Or you or she shall march
  6. Job 18:15 Or Fire dwells in his tent
  7. Job 18:18 Lit They drive him...And chase him
  8. Job 18:20 Lit who come after
  9. Job 18:20 Lit day
  10. Job 18:20 Lit who have gone before