Job 18

Bildad Speaks

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite ^a replied:

²How long until you stop talking?

Show some sense, and then we can talk.

³Why are we regarded as cattle,

as stupid in your sight?

⁴You who tear yourself in anger ^b —

should the earth be abandoned on your account,

or a rock be removed from its place?

⁵Yes, the light ^c of the wicked ^d is extinguished;

the flame of his fire does not glow.

⁶The light in his tent grows dark, ^e

and the lamp beside him is put out.

⁷His powerful stride is shortened,

and his own schemes trip him up. ^f

⁸For his own feet lead him into a net,

and he strays into its mesh.

⁹A trap catches him by the heel;

a noose seizes him.

¹⁰A rope lies hidden for him on the ground,

and a snare waits for him along the path.

¹¹Terrors frighten him on every side ^g

and harass him at every step.

¹²His strength is depleted;

disaster lies ready for him to stumble. ^h

¹³Parts of his skin are eaten away;

death’s firstborn consumes his limbs.

¹⁴He is ripped from the security of his tent

and marched away to the king of terrors.

¹⁵Nothing he owned remains in his tent.

Burning sulfur ⁱ is scattered over his home.

¹⁶His roots below dry up,

and his branches above wither away. ^j

¹⁷All memory ^k of him perishes from the earth;

he has no name anywhere. ^l

¹⁸He is driven from light to darkness

and chased from the inhabited world.

¹⁹He has no children or descendants among his people,

no survivor where he used to live. ^m

²⁰Those in the west are appalled ⁿ at his fate,

while those in the east tremble in horror.

²¹Indeed, such is the dwelling of the unjust man,

and this is the place of the one who does not know God. ^o