Job 18

The Second Speech of Bildad 1Then Bildad the Shuhite replied,

2“Job, when will you stop these speeches of yours? Be reasonable! Then we can talk.

3Why do you look at us as if we were cattle? Why do you think of us as being stupid?

4Your anger is tearing you to pieces. Does the earth have to be deserted just to prove you are right? Must all the rocks be moved from their places?

5“The lamps of sinful people are blown out. Their flames will never burn again.

6The lights in their tents become dark. The lamps beside those who are evil go out.

7They walk more slowly than they used to. Their own evil plans make them fall.

8Their feet take them into a net. They wander right into it.

9A trap grabs hold of their heels. It refuses to let them go.

10A trap lies in their path. A rope to catch them is hidden on the ground.

11Terrors alarm them on every side. They follow them every step of the way.

12Trouble would like to eat them up. Danger waits for them when they fall.

13It eats away parts of their skin. Death itself feeds on their arms and legs.

14They are torn away from the safety of their tents. They are marched off to the one who rules over death.

15Fire races through their tents. Burning sulfur is scattered over their homes.

16Their roots dry up under them. Their branches dry up above them.

17No one on earth remembers them. Their names are forgotten in the land.

18They are driven from light into the place of darkness. They are thrown out of the world.

19Their family dies out among their people. No one is left where they used to live.

20What has happened to them shocks the people in the west. It terrifies the people in the east. 21Now you know what the homes of sinners are like. Those who don’t know God live in places like that.”