Job 18

1 Then Bildad replied [again]:

Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said,

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

“How long will you go on talking, hunting for the right words to say? Talk sense if you want us to reply!

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

Do you think we're dumb animals? Do we look stupid to you?

4 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]?

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 “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.

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

The light in their home goes out, the lamp hanging above is extinguished.

7 [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].

Instead of taking strong strides they stumble, and their own plans cause them to fall.

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

Their own feet trip them up and they are caught in a net; as they walk along they fall into a pit.

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

A trap grabs them by the heel; a snare tightens around them.

10 [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.

A noose is hidden on the ground for them; a rope is stretched across the path to trip them.

11 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.

Terrors scare the wicked, coming at them from every side, chasing them, biting at their heels.

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

Hunger robs them of strength; disaster waits for them when they fall.

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

Disease devours their skin; deadly disease consumes their limbs.

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

They are torn from the homes they trusted in and taken to the king of terrors.

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

People they don't know will live in their homes; sulfur will be scattered where they used to live.

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

They wither away, roots below and branches above;

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

the memory of them fades from the earth; nobody remembers their names any more.

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

They are thrown out of light into darkness, driven from the world.

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

They have no children or descendants among their people, and no survivors where they used to live.

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

People of the west are appalled at what happens to them. People of the east are shocked.

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

This is what happens to the homes of the wicked, to the places of those who reject God.”