[1] Bildad the Shuhite encouraged Job to righteousness. [2] Bildad: How long will you keep up the hunt for words? Show some sense, and then we can actually converse. [3] Why is it we are like cattle to you, dumb animals in your eyes? [4] You speak of how God "tears at you," you! You tear at yourself in your rage. Oh, how self-centered you are! Ought the earth be emptied of its inhabitants for your sake? Ought the rocks roll away for your convenience? [5] Remember, the flame of the wicked is extinguished. His fire no longer lends light to anything. [6] His tent-lamp goes dark; his bedside lamp flickers and dies. [7] His long strides falter, as his own plans take him down. [8] His then-weakened feet lead him to a net, And wander into its waiting mesh. [9] A snare clamps around his heel; he feels it dig into him. [10] This trap was set for him beforehand: a snare is hidden on the ground; a net is overhead along the path. [11] Terrors press in on every side and badger his every step. [12] His deepest fears stalk him as he staggers, craving him, and awaiting his imminent collapse. [13] Bit by bit, disease eats at his skin; bit by bit, the firstborn of death gnashes at his limbs. [14] He is torn violently from the safety of his tent and forced to march before the king of terrors. [15] Bildad: Nothing of his remains in his tent, and burning sulfur has been scattered on it so no one will dwell there again. [16] Death comes from both directions: from below, his roots dry out; from above, his branches wither. [17] On the earth, he disappears from memory; on the outside, no one recalls his name. [18] He is pushed out of the light into darkness and chased from the inhabited world altogether. [19] He has no children, no descendants among his people; no one survives him or escapes from his homeland. [20] His fate is unanimously viewed: with dismay in the West, with horror in the East. [21] Surely this is the way it goes with all evil people; surely this is the lot in life for those who do not know God.
