Job 18:1–19:29
18 Thena Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2 “⌊How long⌋b ⌊will youc hunt for words⌋?d
Consider,e and afterward we shall speak.
3 Why are we considered as animals?
Why are we taken asf stupid in yourg eyes?
4 “You who are tearing ⌊yourself⌋h in youri anger,
will the earth be forsaken because of you?j
Ork will the rock be removed from its place?
5 Furthermore,l the light of the wicked is put out,
and the flame of his fire will not shine.
6 The light becomes dark in his tent,
and his lamp above him is put out.
7 “⌊His strong steps⌋m are shortened,
and his own schemesn throw him down,
8 for he is thrust into a net by his feet,
and he walks into a pitfall.
9 A trap seizes him by the heel;
a snare takes hold of him.
10 His rope is hidden in the ground,
and his trap on the path.
11 “Sudden terrors terrify him all around,
and they chase him at his heels.
12 His wealth will become hunger,
and disaster is ready for his stumbling.
13 It consumes parts of his skin;
the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
14 He is torn from his tent ⌊in which he trusted⌋,o
and it brought him to the king of terrors.
15 “⌊Nothing⌋p remains for him in his tent;
sulfur is scattered upon his dwelling place.
16 His roots dry up ⌊below⌋,q
and its branchesr wither away above.s
17 His remembrance perishes from the earth,
and there is not a name for him on the street.
18 “They thrust him from light into darkness,
and they drive him out from the world.
19 There is no offspring for him nort a descendant among his people,
and there is not a survivor in his abode.
20 Those of the west are appalled over ⌊his fate⌋,u
and those of the east ⌊are seized with horror⌋.v
21 Surely these are the dwellings of the godless,
and this is the dwelling place of him who knows not God.”
Job’s Sixth Speech: A Response to Bildad
19 Thena Job answered and said,
2 “⌊How long⌋b will youc torment med
and crush me with words?
3 These ten times youe have disgraced me;
youf are not ashamed that youg have attackedh me.
4 And what is more, if I have truly erred,
my error remains with me.
5 If indeed youi must magnify yourselves against me,
and youj must let my disgrace argue against me,
6 know then that God has wronged me
and has surrounded me with his net.
7 “Look, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ butk I am not answered;
I cry out, butl there is no justice.
8 He has walled up my way so thatm I cannot pass;
and he has set darkness upon my paths.
9 He has taken my glory from me,
and he has removed the crown ofn my head.
10 He has broken me down all around, and I am gone.
And he has uprooted my hope like a tree,
11 and he has kindled his wrath against me,
and ⌊he has counted me as one of his foes⌋.o
12 His troops have come together
and have thrown up their rampartp against me
and have encamped around my tent.
13 “He has removed my kinsfolk from me,
and my acquaintances have onlyq turned aside from me.
and my close friends have forgotten me.
15 The sojourners inr my house and my slave women count me as a stranger;
I have become a foreigner in their eyes.
16 I call to my servant, buts he does not answer;
I must ⌊personally⌋t plead with him.
17 My breath is repulsive to my wife,
and I am loathsome to ⌊my own family⌋.u
18 Little boys also despise me;
when I rise, thenv they talk against me.
19 All ⌊my intimate friends⌋w abhor me,
and these whom I have loved have turned against me.
20 My bonesx cling to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 “Pity me, pity me, you my friends,
for God’s hand has touched me.
22 Why do youy pursue me like God?
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 “⌊O that⌋z my words could be written down!
⌊O that they could be inscribed in a scroll⌋!a
24 That with a pen of iron and with lead
they might be engraved on a rock forever!
25 Butb I myselfc know that my redeemer is alive,
and at the last he will stand up upon ⌊the earth⌋.d
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
bute fromf my flesh I will see God,
27 whom ⌊I will see for myself⌋,g
and whom my eyes will see and not a stranger.h
⌊My heart faints within me⌋.i
28 “If youj say, ‘How will we persecute him?’
And ‘The root of the trouble is found’ in me,k
29 be afraid for yourselves ⌊because of the sword⌋,l
for wrath brings punishment bym the sword,
so that you may know that there is judgment.”