Job 18

New International Reader's Version

² “Job, when will you stop these speeches of yours?
    Be reasonable! Then we can talk.
³ Why do you look at us as if we were cattle?
    Why do you think of us as being stupid?
⁴ Your anger is tearing you to pieces.
    Does the earth have to be deserted just to prove you are right?
    Must all the rocks be moved from their places?

⁵ “The lamps of sinful people are blown out.
    Their flames will never burn again.
⁶ The lights in their tents become dark.
    The lamps beside those who are evil go out.
⁷ They walk more slowly than they used to.
    Their own evil plans make them fall.
⁸ Their feet take them into a net.
    They wander right into it.
⁹ A trap grabs hold of their heels.
    It refuses to let them go.
¹⁰ A trap lies in their path.
    A rope to catch them is hidden on the ground.
¹¹ Terrors alarm them on every side.
    They follow them every step of the way.
¹² Trouble would like to eat them up.
    Danger waits for them when they fall.
¹³ It eats away parts of their skin.
    Death itself feeds on their arms and legs.
¹⁴ They are torn away from the safety of their tents.
    They are marched off to the one who rules over death.
¹⁵ Fire races through their tents.
    Burning sulfur is scattered over their homes.
¹⁶ Their roots dry up under them.
    Their branches dry up above them.
¹⁷ No one on earth remembers them.
    Their names are forgotten in the land.
¹⁸ They are driven from light into the place of darkness.
    They are thrown out of the world.
¹⁹ Their family dies out among their people.
    No one is left where they used to live.
²⁰ What has happened to them shocks the people in the west.
    It terrifies the people in the east.
²¹ Now you know what the homes of sinners are like.
    Those who don’t know God live in places like that.”