NIV

Job 18

1<pb/>Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2<pb/><t>“When will you end these speeches?</t> <t>Be sensible, and then we can talk.</t>
3<t>Why are we regarded as cattle</t> <t>and considered stupid in your sight?</t>
4<t>You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger,</t> <t>is the earth to be abandoned for your sake?</t> <t>Or must the rocks be moved from their place? <pb/></t>
5<t>“The lamp of a wicked man is snuffed out;</t> <t>the flame of his fire stops burning.</t>
6<t>The light in his tent becomes dark;</t> <t>the lamp beside him goes out.</t>
7<t>The vigor of his step is weakened;</t> <t>his own schemes throw him down.</t>
8<t>His feet thrust him into a net;</t> <t>he wanders into its mesh.</t>
9<t>A trap seizes him by the heel;</t> <t>a snare holds him fast.</t>
10<t>A noose is hidden for him on the ground;</t> <t>a trap lies in his path.</t>
11<t>Terrors startle him on every side</t> <t>and dog his every step.</t>
12<t>Calamity is hungry for him;</t> <t>disaster is ready for him when he falls.</t>
13<t>It eats away parts of his skin;</t> <t>death’s firstborn devours his limbs.</t>
14<t>He is torn from the security of his tent</t> <t>and marched off to the king of terrors.</t>
15<t>Fire resides<f>[23]</f> in his tent;</t> <t>burning sulfur is scattered over his dwelling.</t>
16<t>His roots dry up below</t> <t>and his branches wither above.</t>
17<t>The memory of him perishes from the earth;</t> <t>he has no name in the land.</t>
18<t>He is driven from light into the realm of darkness</t> <t>and is banished from the world.</t>
19<t>He has no offspring or descendants among his people,</t> <t>no survivor where once he lived.</t>
20<t>People of the west are appalled at his fate;</t> <t>those of the east are seized with horror.</t>
21<t>Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man;</t> <t>such is the place of one who does not know God.”</t>