Bildad Speaks of the Wicked

1Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,

2“How long will you hunt for words and continue these speeches?

Do some clear thinking and show understanding and then we can talk.

3“Why are we regarded as beasts,

As if [we are] stupid (senseless) in your eyes?

4“You who tear yourself apart in anger,

Is the earth to be abandoned for your sake,

Or the rock to be moved out of its place?

5“Indeed, the light of the wicked will be put out,

And the flame of his fire will not shine.

6“The light will be dark in his tent,

And his lamp beside him will be put out.

7“The vigorous stride will be shortened,

And his own counsel and the scheme [in which he trusted] will bring his downfall.

8“For the wicked is thrown into a net by his own feet (wickedness),

And he steps on the webbing [of the lattice-covered pit].

9“A snare catches him by the heel,

And a trap snaps shut on him.

10“A noose is hidden for him on the ground,

And a trap for him on the path.

11“Terrors frighten him on every side

And chase at his heels.

12“The strength [of the wicked] is famished and weakened,

And disaster is ready at his side [if he stops].

13“His skin is devoured by disease;

The firstborn of death [the worst of diseases] consumes his limbs.

14“He is torn from his tent which he trusted [for safety],

And he is marched and brought to the king of terrors (death).

15“Nothing of his dwells in his tent;

Brimstone (burning sulfur) is scattered over his dwelling [to purify it].

16“The roots [of the wicked] are dried up below,

And above, his branch is cut off and withers.

17“Memory of him perishes from the earth,

And he has no name on the street.

18“He is driven and propelled from light into darkness,

And chased from the inhabited world.

19“He has no offspring or prosperity among his people,

Nor any survivor where he sojourned.

20“Those in the west are astonished and appalled at his fate,

And those in the east are seized with horror.

21“Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked and the ungodly,

And such is the place of him who does not know or recognize or honor God.”