Job 18-22

Christian Standard Bible

⁵ Yes, the light^(B) of the wicked^(C) is extinguished;
the flame of his fire does not glow.
⁶ The light in his tent grows dark,^(D)
and the lamp beside him is put out.

⁷ His powerful stride is shortened,
and his own schemes trip him up.^(E)
8 For his own feet lead him into a net,
and he strays into its mesh.
⁹ 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)

²³ I wish that my words were written down,
that they were recorded on a scroll
²⁴ or were inscribed in stone forever
by an iron stylus and lead!
²⁵ But I know that my Redeemer lives,^[k](AE)
and at the end he will stand on the dust.^(AF)
26 Even after my skin has been destroyed,^[l]
yet I will see God in^[m] my flesh.^(AG)
27 I will see him myself;
my eyes will look at him, and not as a stranger.^[n]
My heart longs^[o] within me.^(AH)

²⁸ If you say, “How will we pursue him,
since the root of the problem lies with him?” ^[p]
29 then be afraid of the sword,
because wrath brings punishment by the sword,^(AI)
so that you may know there is a judgment.

⁴ Don’t you know that ever since antiquity,
from the time a human was placed on earth,
⁵ the joy of the wicked has been brief
and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?^(AL)
6 Though his arrogance reaches heaven,
and his head touches the clouds,^(AM)
7 he will vanish forever like his own dung.
Those who know^[s] him will ask, “Where is he?” ^(AN)
8 He will fly away like a dream and never be found;
he will be chased away like a vision in the night.^(AO)
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more,^(AP)
and his household will no longer see him.^(AQ)
10 His children will beg from^[t] the poor,
for his own hands must give back his wealth.
¹¹ His frame may be full of youthful vigor,
but it will lie down with him in dust.^(AR)

¹² Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth
and he conceals it under his tongue,
¹³ though he cherishes it and will not let it go
but keeps it in his mouth,^(AS)
14 yet the food in his stomach turns
into cobras’ venom inside him.
¹⁵ He swallows wealth but must vomit it up;
God will force it from his stomach.
¹⁶ He will suck the poison of cobras;
a viper’s fangs^[u] will kill him.^(AT)
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and curds.^(AU)
18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;
he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.
¹⁹ For he oppressed and abandoned the poor;
he seized a house he did not build.^(AV)

²⁰ Because his appetite is never satisfied,^[v]
he does not let anything he desires escape.
²¹ Nothing is left for him to consume;^(AW)
therefore, his prosperity will not last.
²² At the height of his success^[w] distress will come to him;^(AX)
the full weight of misery^[x] will crush him.
²³ When he fills his stomach,
God will send his burning anger against him,
raining^(AY) it down on him while he is eating.^[y]
24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him.
²⁵ He pulls it out of his back,
the flashing tip out of his liver.^[z]
Terrors come over him.^(AZ)
26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
A fire unfanned by human hands will consume^(BA) him;
it will feed on what is left in his tent.
²⁷ The heavens will expose his iniquity,^(BB)
and the earth will rise up against him.^(BC)
28 The possessions in his house will be removed,
flowing away on the day of God’s anger.
²⁹ This is the wicked person’s lot^(BD) from God,
the inheritance God ordained for him.

⁴ As for me, is my complaint^(BE) against a human being?
Then why shouldn’t I be impatient?
⁵ Look at me and shudder;^(BF)
put your hand over your mouth.^(BG)
6 When I think about it, I am terrified
and my body trembles^(BH) in horror.
⁷ Why do the wicked continue to live,
growing old and becoming powerful?
⁸ Their children are established while they are still alive,^[aa]
and their descendants, before their eyes.
⁹ Their homes are secure and free of fear;^(BI)
no rod from God strikes them.^(BJ)
10 Their bulls breed without fail;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
¹¹ They let their little ones run around like lambs;
their children skip about,
¹² singing to the tambourine and lyre
and rejoicing at the sound of the flute.^(BK)
13 They spend^[ab] their days in prosperity^(BL)
and go down to Sheol in peace.
¹⁴ Yet they say to God, “Leave us alone!
We don’t want to know your ways.^(BM)
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him,
and what will we gain by pleading with him?” ^(BN)
16 But their prosperity is not of their own doing.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!^(BO)

¹⁷ How often is the lamp^(BP) of the wicked put out?
Does disaster^[ac] come on them?
Does he apportion destruction in his anger?
¹⁸ Are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff^(BQ) a storm sweeps away?
¹⁹ God reserves a person’s punishment for his children.^(BR)
Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it.
²⁰ Let his own eyes see his demise;
let him drink from the Almighty’s wrath!^(BS)
21 For what does he care about his family once he is dead,^(BT)
when the number of his months has run out?^(BU)

²² Can anyone teach God knowledge,^(BV)
since he judges the exalted ones?^[ad]
23 One person dies in excellent health,^[ae]
completely secure^[af] and at ease.
²⁴ His body is^[ag] well fed,^[ah]
and his bones are full of marrow.^[ai]
25 Yet another person dies with a bitter^(BW) soul,
having never tasted prosperity.
²⁶ But they both lie in the dust,
and worms cover them.^(BX)

²⁷ I know your thoughts very well,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
²⁸ For you say, “Where now is the nobleman’s house?”
and “Where are the tents^(BY) the wicked lived in?”
²⁹ Have you never consulted those who travel the roads?
Don’t you accept their reports?^[aj]
30 Indeed, the evil person is spared from the day of disaster,
rescued from the day of wrath.
³¹ Who would denounce his behavior to his face?
Who would repay^(BZ) him for what he has done?
³² He is carried to the grave,
and someone keeps watch over his tomb.
³³ The dirt on his grave is^[ak] sweet to him.
Everyone follows behind him,
and those who go before him are without number.

³⁴ So how can you offer me such futile comfort?
Your answers are deceptive.

⁴ Does he correct you and take you to court
because of your piety?^(CB)
5 Isn’t your wickedness abundant
and aren’t your iniquities endless?
⁶ For you took collateral^(CC) from your brothers without cause,
stripping off their clothes and leaving them naked.
⁷ You gave no water to the thirsty
and withheld food from the famished,^(CD)
8 while the land belonged to a powerful man
and an influential man lived on it.
⁹ You sent widows away empty-handed,
and the strength of the fatherless^(CE) was^[al] crushed.
¹⁰ Therefore snares surround you,
and sudden dread terrifies^(CF) you,
¹¹ or darkness, so you cannot see,
and a flood of water covers you.^(CG)

¹² Isn’t God as high as the heavens?
And look at the highest stars—how lofty they are!
¹³ Yet you say, “What does God know?
Can he judge through total darkness?^(CH)
14 Clouds^(CI) veil him so that he cannot see,
as he walks on the circle of the sky.”
¹⁵ Will you continue on the ancient path
that wicked men have walked?
¹⁶ They were snatched away before their time,
and their foundations^(CJ) were washed away by a river.
¹⁷ They were the ones who said to God, “Leave us alone!”
and “What can the Almighty do to us?” ^[am](CK)
18 But it was he who filled their houses with good things.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!
¹⁹ The righteous see this and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,^(CL)
20 “Surely our opponents are destroyed,
and fire has consumed what they left behind.”^(CM)

²¹ Come to terms with God and be at peace;^(CN)
in this way^[an] good will come to you.
²² Receive instruction from his mouth,^(CO)
and place his sayings^(CP) in your heart.
²³ If you return^(CQ) to the Almighty, you will be renewed.
If you banish injustice from your tent
²⁴ and consign your gold to the dust,
the gold of Ophir^(CR) to the stones in the wadis,
²⁵ the Almighty will be your gold
and your finest silver.
²⁶ Then you will delight^(CS) in the Almighty
and lift up your face to God.^(CT)
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,^(CU)
and you will fulfill your vows.
²⁸ When you make a decision, it will be carried out,^[ao]
and light will shine on your ways.^(CV)
29 When others are humiliated and you say, “Lift them up,”
God will save the humble.^[ap](CW)
30 He will even rescue the guilty one,
who will be rescued by the purity of your hands.^(CX)