Job 18
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said,
2 How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, 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 vile in your sight?
Do you think we're dumb animals? Do we look stupid to you?
4 He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his 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 tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.
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 a snare.
Their own feet trip them up and they are caught in a net; as they walk along they fall into a pit.
9 The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.
A trap grabs them by the heel; a snare tightens around them.
10 The snare is laid 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 make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.
Terrors scare the wicked, coming at them from every side, chasing them, biting at their heels.
12 His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.
Hunger robs them of strength; disaster waits for them when they fall.
13 It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.
Disease devours their skin; deadly disease consumes their limbs.
14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.
They are torn from the homes they trusted in and taken to the king of terrors.
15 It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it 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 be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.
They wither away, roots below and branches above;
17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.
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 neither have son nor nephew 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 him shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were 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.”
