Job 18

Bildad Speaks of the Wicked

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite ^{▼▼ Lit answered and said}responded, 2 “How long will you hunt for words?
Show understanding and then we can talk.
3 “Why are we ^bregarded as beasts,
As stupid in your eyes?
4 “O ^{▼▼ Lit he...tears himself...his}you who tear yourself in your anger—
For your sake is the earth to be abandoned,
Or the rock to be moved from its place?

5 “Indeed, the ^dlight of the wicked goes out,
And the ^{▼▼ Lit spark}flame of his fire gives no light.
6 “The light in his tent is ^fdarkened,
And his lamp goes out above him.
7 “His ^{▼▼ Lit steps of his strength}vigorous stride is shortened,
And his ^hown scheme brings him down.
8 “For he is ⁱthrown into the net by his own feet,
And he steps on the webbing.
9 “A snare seizes him by the heel,
And a trap snaps shut on him.
10 “A noose for him is hidden in the ground,
And a trap for him on the path.
11 “All around ^jterrors frighten him,
And ^kharry him at every step.
12 “His strength is ^lfamished,
And calamity is ready at his side.
13 ^{▼▼ Heb It eats parts of his skin}“His skin is devoured by disease,
The firstborn of death ⁿdevours his ^{▼▼ Or parts}limbs.
14 “He is ^ptorn from ^{▼▼ Lit his tent his trust}the security of his tent,
And ^{▼▼ Or you or she shall march}they march him before the king of ^sterrors.
15 ^{▼▼ A suggested reading is Fire dwells in his tent}“There dwells in his tent nothing of his;
^uBrimstone is scattered on his habitation.
16 “His ^vroots are dried below,
And his ^wbranch is cut off above.
17 ^x“Memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name abroad.
18 ^{▼▼ Lit They drive him...And chase him}“He is driven from light ^zinto darkness,
And ^aachased from the inhabited world.
19 “He has no ^aboffspring or posterity among his people,
Nor any survivor where he sojourned.
20 “Those ^{▼▼ Lit who come after}in the west are appalled at ^adhis ^{▼▼ Lit day}fate,
And those ^{▼▼ Lit who have gone before}in the east are seized with horror.
21 “Surely such are the ^agdwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”