Job 18  Contemporary English Version

* ^5 (A) The lamps of sinful people
soon are snuffed out,
⁶     leaving their tents dark.
⁷ Their powerful legs become weak,
and they stumble on schemes
    of their own doing.
* ⁸ Before they know it,
⁹ they are trapped in a net,
¹⁰     hidden along the path.
¹¹ Terror strikes and pursues
    from every side.
¹² Starving, they run,
    only to meet disaster,
¹³ then afterwards to be eaten alive
    by death itself.

¹⁴ Those sinners are dragged
from the safety of their tents
    to die a gruesome death.
¹⁵ Then their tents and possessions
    are burned to ashes,
¹⁶ and they are left like trees,
    dried up from the roots.
¹⁷ They are gone and forgotten,
¹⁸ thrown far from the light
    into a world of darkness,
¹⁹ without any children
    to carry on their name.
²⁰ Everyone, from east to west,
    is overwhelmed with horror.
²¹ Such is the fate of sinners
and their families
    who don't know God.