Job 18

1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said:

Then Bildad replied [again]:

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

“When are you going to stop talking [RHQ]? If you would stop talking and listen, we could tell you something.

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

Why do you think that we are [as stupid] as cattle? [DOU, RHQ]

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?

By being [very] angry and hurting yourself, do you think that doing that will shake the earth, or cause the rocks in the mountains to move? [RHQ]?

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

“What will happen is that the lives of wicked people [like you] end [as quickly as we can] put out a light or extinguish the flame of a fire.

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

And when the lamps above them [in their tents] are extinguished, there will be no light in those tents.

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

[For many years] they walked confidently, but later [in life it was as though] they stumbled and fell, because [they themselves did not heed] the advice [that they gave to others].

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

[It was as though] they walked into their own net or fell into a pit that they themselves have dug.

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

[It was as though] a trap grabbed their heels and held them fast [DOU],

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

[as though the noose of] a rope that was hidden on the ground, [whose other end was fastened to the limb of a tree], seized them when they walked into it.

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

Everywhere they went, there were things that caused them to be terrified; [it was as though] those things were pursuing them and biting at their heels.

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

They became hungry, with the result that they had no strength. They experienced disasters [PRS] constantly.

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

Diseases spread all over their skin/bodies; diseases that (caused their bodies to decay/destroyed their arms and legs).

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

[When they died, ] they were snatched away from their tents and brought to the one who rules over the dead.

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

Now their tents will burn down, when burning sulfur rains down on those tents!

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

[Because those who died had no descendants], they were [like trees whose] roots have dried up and whose branches have all withered [MET].

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

No one on the earth will remember them any more; no [one on any] street [will even remember] their names [MTY].

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

They will be expelled from the earth where there is light, and they will be sent into the place where it is dark.

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

They will have no children or grandchildren, no descendants where they previously lived.

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

People from the east to the west [who hear about what happened to them], will be shocked and horrified.

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

And that is what happens to ungodly/sinful people [like you], to people who (have no interest in/have rejected) God.”