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Bildad: God Punishes the Wicked

¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:² “How long until you end these speeches? Show some sense, and then we can talk.³ Why are we regarded as cattle, as stupid in your sight?⁴ You who tear yourself in anger—should the earth be forsaken on your account, or the rocks be moved from their place?

⁵ Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.⁶ The light in his tent grows dark, and the lamp beside him goes out.⁷ His vigorous stride is shortened, and his own schemes trip him up.⁸ For his own feet lead him into a net, and he wanders into its mesh.⁹ A trap seizes his heel; a snare grips him.¹⁰ A noose is hidden in the ground, and a trap lies in his path.

¹¹ Terrors frighten him on every side and harass his every step.¹² His strength is depleted, and calamity is ready at his side.¹³ It devours patches of his skin; the firstborn of death devours his limbs.¹⁴ He is torn from the shelter of his tent and is marched off to the king of terrors.¹⁵ Fire resides in his tent; brimstone is scattered over his home.¹⁶ The roots beneath him dry up, and the branches above him wither away.¹⁷ The memory of him perishes from the earth, and he has no name in the land.¹⁸ He is driven from light into darkness and is chased from the inhabited world.¹⁹ He has no offspring or posterity among his people, no survivor where he once lived.²⁰ Those in the west are appalled at his fate, while those in the east tremble in horror.²¹ Surely such is the dwelling of the wicked and the place of one who does not know God.”