18TH CHAPTER

Bildad Speaks:

Why Do You Think You Are So Great, Job?

1 Then Bildad from Shuah replied ⸤to Job⸥, 

2  “How long before your words will end? 

Think it through, and then we’ll talk. 

3  Why do you think of us as cattle? 

Why are we considered stupid in your eyes? 

4  Why do you rip yourself apart in anger? 

Should the earth be abandoned for your sake 

or a boulder be dislodged? 

What a Wicked Person Can Expect from Life

5  “Indeed, the light of the wicked is snuffed out. 

The flame of his fire stops glowing. 

6  The light in his tent becomes dark, 

and the lamp above him is snuffed out. 

7  “His healthy stride is shortened, 

and his own planning trips him up. 

8  His own feet get him tangled in a net 

as he walks around on its webbing. 

9  A trap catches his heel. 

A snare holds him. 

10  A rope is hidden on the ground for him. 

A trap is on his path ⸤to catch⸥ him. 

11  “Terrors suddenly pounce on him from every side 

and chase him every step he takes. 

12  Hunger undermines his strength. 

Disaster is waiting beside him. 

13  His skin is eaten away by disease. 

Death’s firstborn son eats away at the limbs of his body. 

14  He is dragged from the safety of his tent 

and marched off to the king of terrors. 

15  Fire lives in his tent. 

Sulfur is scattered over his home. 

16  His roots dry up under him. 

His branches wither over him. 

17  All memory about him will vanish from the earth, 

and his reputation will not be known on the street corner. 

18  He will be driven from the light into the dark 

and chased out of the world. 

19  He will not have any children or descendants among his people 

or any survivor where he used to live. 

20  People in the west are shocked by what happens to him. 

People in the east are seized with horror. 

21  This is what happens to the homes of wicked people 

and to those who do not know God.”