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Bildad Answers Job

18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:

“When will you stop these speeches?
    Be sensible, and then we can talk.
You think of us as cattle,
    as if we are stupid.
You tear yourself to pieces in your anger.
    Should the earth be vacant just for you?
    Should the rocks move from their places?

“The lamp of the wicked will be put out,
    and the flame in their lamps will stop burning.
The light in their tents will grow dark,
    and the lamps by their sides will go out.
Their strong steps will grow weak;
    they will fall into their own evil traps.
Their feet will be caught in a net
    when they walk into its web.
A trap will catch them by the heel
    and hold them tight.
10 A trap for them is hidden on the ground,
    right in their path.
11 Terrible things startle them from every side
    and chase them at every step.
12 Hunger takes away their strength,
    and disaster is at their side.
13 Disease eats away parts of their skin;
    death gnaws at their arms and legs.
14 They are torn from the safety of their tents
    and dragged off to Death, the King of Terrors.
15 Their tents are set on fire,
    and sulfur is scattered over their homes.
16 Their roots dry up below ground,
    and their branches die above ground.
17 People on earth will not remember them;
    their names will be forgotten in the land.
18 They will be driven from light into darkness
    and chased out of the world.
19 They have no children or descendants among their people,
    and no one will be left alive where they once lived.
20 People of the west will be shocked at what has happened to them,
    and people of the east will be very frightened.
21 Surely this is what will happen to the wicked;
    such is the place of one who does not know God.”

Bildad Speaks Again

18 Bildad from Shuah replied, saying:

“When are you going to stop your word hunt?
    Think first, and then we can talk.
Why do you think we’re like dumb animals?
    Do you think we’re stupid?
You’re tearing yourself to pieces in your anger.
    Will the land be abandoned because of you,
        or the rock be moved from its place?”

The Wicked are Trapped

“Indeed, the light of the wicked is extinguished;
    the flame from his fire doesn’t shine.
Light in his tent is dark,
    and his lamp goes out above him.
His strong steps are restricted,
    and his own advice trips him up.

“For he has stumbled into a net with his own feet;
    he walked right into the network!
The trap seizes him by the heel;
    a snare tightens its hold on him.
10 A rope lies hidden in the dirt;
    a trap lies[a] waiting for him where he is walking.”

The Wicked Perish without Descendants

11 “He is petrified by terror that surrounds him on all sides;
    they chase at his heels.
12 He is starved for strength;
    and is ripe for a fall.
13 Something gnaws on his skin;
    a deadly disease[b] consumes his limbs.
14 Torn from the security of his home,[c]
    he is brought before the king of terrors.

15 “There’s nothing in his tent that belongs to him;
    sulfur is scattered all over his dwelling place.
16 His roots wither underneath,
    while his branches above are being cut off.
17 No one remembers him anywhere in the land;
    no one names streets in his honor.
18 He is driven away from light to darkness,
    made to wander the landscape.
19 He has no children or descendants within his own people;
    and no survivors where he once lived.
20 People[d] who live west of him are appalled at his fate;[e]
    those who live east of him are seized with terror.
21 Indeed, the residences of the wicked are like this;
    and so are the homes of those who don’t know God.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 18:10 The Heb. lacks lies
  2. Job 18:13 Lit. a firstborn of death
  3. Job 18:14 Lit. tent
  4. Job 18:20 The Heb. lacks people
  5. Job 18:20 Lit. at his day