Job 18

1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said:

Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said,

2 How long will ye lay snares for words? Consider, and afterwards we will speak.

“How long will you go on talking, hunting for the right words to say? Talk sense if you want us to reply!

3 Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed dull in your sight?

Do you think we're dumb animals? Do we look stupid to you?

4 Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger, shall the earth be forsaken for thee? Or shall the rock be removed out of its place?

You tear yourself apart with your anger. Do you think the earth has to be abandoned, or the mountains moved, just because of you?

5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

It's certain that the life of the wicked will end like a lamp that is snuffed out—their flame will shine no more.

6 The light shall be dark in his tent, and his lamp over him shall be put out.

The light in their home goes out, the lamp hanging above is extinguished.

7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.

Instead of taking strong strides they stumble, and their own plans cause them to fall.

8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon the toils.

Their own feet trip them up and they are caught in a net; as they walk along they fall into a pit.

9 A gin shall take him by the heel, and a snare shall lay hold on him.

A trap grabs them by the heel; a snare tightens around them.

10 A noose is hid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.

A noose is hidden on the ground for them; a rope is stretched across the path to trip them.

11 Terrors shall overwhelm him on every side, and shall entrap him at his feet.

Terrors scare the wicked, coming at them from every side, chasing them, biting at their heels.

12 His trouble shall be ravenous, and calamity shall be ready for his fall.

Hunger robs them of strength; disaster waits for them when they fall.

13 It shall devour the members of his body, yea, the first-born of death shall devour his members.

Disease devours their skin; deadly disease consumes their limbs.

14 That wherein he trusteth shall be plucked out of his tent; and he shall be brought to the king of terrors.

They are torn from the homes they trusted in and taken to the king of terrors.

15 There shall dwell in his tent that which is none of his; brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.

People they don't know will live in their homes; sulfur will be scattered where they used to live.

16 His roots shall dry up beneath, and above shall his branch wither.

They wither away, roots below and branches above;

17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name abroad.

the memory of them fades from the earth; nobody remembers their names any more.

18 He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.

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

19 He shall have neither son nor son's son among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.

They have no children or descendants among their people, and no survivors where they used to live.

20 They that come after shall be astonished at his day, as they that went before are affrighted.

People of the west are appalled at what happens to them. People of the east are shocked.

21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.

This is what happens to the homes of the wicked, to the places of those who reject God.”