Bildad’s Second Attack

Plunged from Light into Darkness

18 1-4 Bildad from Shuhah chimed in:

“How monotonous these word games are getting!
    Get serious! We need to get down to business.
Why do you treat your friends like slow-witted animals?
    You look down on us as if we don’t know anything.
Why are you working yourself up like this?
    Do you want the world redesigned to suit you?
    Should reality be suspended to accommodate you?

5-21 “Here’s the rule: The light of the wicked is put out.
    Their flame dies down and is extinguished.
Their house goes dark—
    every lamp in the place goes out.
Their strong strides weaken, falter;
    they stumble into their own traps.
They get all tangled up
    in their own red tape,
Their feet are grabbed and caught,
    their necks in a noose.
They trip on ropes they’ve hidden,
    and fall into pits they’ve dug themselves.
Terrors come at them from all sides.
    They run dazed and confused.
The hungry grave is ready
    to gobble them up for supper,
To lay them out for a gourmet meal,
    a treat for ravenous Death.
They are snatched from their home sweet home
    and marched straight to the death house.
Their lives go up in smoke;
    acid rain soaks their ruins.
Their roots rot
    and their branches wither.
They’ll never again be remembered—
    nameless in unmarked graves.
They are plunged from light into darkness,
    banished from the world.
And they leave empty-handed—not one single child—
    nothing to show for their life on this earth.
Westerners are aghast at their fate,
    easterners are horrified:
‘Oh no! So this is what happens to perverse people.
    This is how the God-ignorant end up!’”

Bildad

18 Then Bildad the Shuhite(A) replied:

“When will you end these speeches?(B)
    Be sensible, and then we can talk.
Why are we regarded as cattle(C)
    and considered stupid in your sight?(D)
You who tear yourself(E) to pieces in your anger,(F)
    is the earth to be abandoned for your sake?
    Or must the rocks be moved from their place?(G)

“The lamp of a wicked man is snuffed out;(H)
    the flame of his fire stops burning.(I)
The light in his tent(J) becomes dark;(K)
    the lamp beside him goes out.(L)
The vigor(M) of his step is weakened;(N)
    his own schemes(O) throw him down.(P)
His feet thrust him into a net;(Q)
    he wanders into its mesh.
A trap seizes him by the heel;
    a snare(R) holds him fast.(S)
10 A noose(T) is hidden for him on the ground;
    a trap(U) lies in his path.(V)
11 Terrors(W) startle him on every side(X)
    and dog(Y) his every step.
12 Calamity(Z) is hungry(AA) for him;
    disaster(AB) is ready for him when he falls.(AC)
13 It eats away parts of his skin;(AD)
    death’s firstborn devours his limbs.(AE)
14 He is torn from the security of his tent(AF)
    and marched off to the king(AG) of terrors.(AH)
15 Fire resides[a] in his tent;(AI)
    burning sulfur(AJ) is scattered over his dwelling.
16 His roots dry up below(AK)
    and his branches wither above.(AL)
17 The memory of him perishes from the earth;(AM)
    he has no name(AN) in the land.(AO)
18 He is driven from light into the realm of darkness(AP)
    and is banished(AQ) from the world.(AR)
19 He has no offspring(AS) or descendants(AT) among his people,
    no survivor(AU) where once he lived.(AV)
20 People of the west are appalled(AW) at his fate;(AX)
    those of the east are seized with horror.
21 Surely such is the dwelling(AY) of an evil man;(AZ)
    such is the place(BA) of one who does not know God.”(BB)

Footnotes

  1. Job 18:15 Or Nothing he had remains