Bildad: The Wicked Are Punished

² “How long till you put an end to words?
Gain understanding, and afterward we will speak.

³ Why are we counted as beasts,
And regarded as stupid in your sight?

⁴ You who tear yourself in anger,
Shall the earth be forsaken for you?
Or shall the rock be removed from its place?

⁵ “The light of the wicked indeed goes out,
And the flame of his fire does not shine.

⁶ The light is dark in his tent,
And his lamp beside him is put out.

⁷ The steps of his strength are shortened,
And his own counsel casts him down.

⁸ For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
And he walks into a snare.

⁹ The net takes him by the heel,
And a snare lays hold of him.

¹⁰ A noose is hidden for him on the ground,
And a trap for him in the road.

¹¹ Terrors frighten him on every side,
And drive him to his feet.

¹² His strength is starved,
And destruction is ready at his side.

¹³ It devours patches of his skin;
The firstborn of death devours his limbs.

¹⁴ He is uprooted from the shelter of his tent,
And they parade him before the king of terrors.

¹⁵ They dwell in his tent who are none of his;
Brimstone is scattered on his dwelling.

¹⁶ His roots are dried out below,
And his branch withers above.

¹⁷ The memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name among the renowned.^[a]

¹⁸ He is driven from light into darkness,
And chased out of the world.

¹⁹ He has neither son nor posterity among his people,
Nor any remaining in his dwellings.

²⁰ Those in the west are astonished at his day,
As those in the east are frightened.

²¹ Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”