Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked

Job 18

1 Then a Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

2 "How long will you b hunt for words?
Consider, and then we will speak.
 3 Why are we counted as c cattle?
Why are we stupid in your sight?
 4 You who d tear yourself in your anger,
shall the earth be forsaken for you,
or e the rock be removed out of its place?

5 "Indeed, f the light of the wicked is put out,
and the flame of his fire does not shine.
 6 The light is g dark in his tent,
and his lamp above him is put out.
 7 His strong steps are shortened,
and his h own schemes throw him down.
 8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
and he walks on its mesh.
 9 i A trap seizes him by the heel;
a snare lays hold of him.
 10 A rope is hidden for him in the ground,
a trap for him in the path.
 11 j Terrors frighten him on every side,
and chase him at his heels.
 12 His strength is famished,
and calamity is k ready for his stumbling.
 13 It consumes the parts of his skin;
l the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
 14 He is torn from the tent in which he trusted
and is brought to m the king of terrors.
 15 In his tent dwells that which is none of his;
n sulfur is scattered over his habitation.
 16 His o roots dry up beneath,
and his branches p wither above.
 17 His q memory perishes from the earth,
and he has no name in the street.
 18 r He is thrust from light into darkness,
and driven out of the world.
 19 He has no s posterity or progeny among his people,
and no survivor where he used to live.
 20 They of the west are appalled at his t day,
and u horror seizes them of the east.
 21 Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,
such is the place of him who v knows not God."

  1. Cross References
    Job 2:11
    Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.
    Job 8:1
    Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
  2. Cross References
    Matthew 22:15
    Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words.
    Mark 12:13
    And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk.
    Luke 20:20
    So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.
  3. Cross References
    Psalms 73:22
    I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.
  4. Cross References
    Job 16:9
    He has torn me in his wrath and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.
  5. Cross References
    Job 14:18
    But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place.
  6. Cross References
    Job 21:17
    How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity comes upon them? That God distributes pains in his anger?
    Proverbs 13:9
    The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
    Proverbs 20:20
    If one curses his father or his mother, his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.
    Proverbs 24:20
    For the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
    Psalms 18:28
    For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
  7. Cross References
    Job 10:22
    The land of gloom like thick darkness, like deep shadow without any order, where light is as thick darkness.
  8. Cross References
    Job 5:13
    He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
  9. Cross References
    Psalms 140:5
    The arrogant have hidden a trap for me, and with cords they have spread a net; beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah
  10. Cross References
    Job 15:21
    Dreadful sounds are in his ears; in prosperity ...
    Job 20:25
    It is drawn forth and comes out of his body; th...
    Job 27:20
    Terrors overtake him like a flood; in the night...
    Job 30:15
    Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued...
    Jeremiah 6:25
    Go not out into the field, nor walk on the road...
    Jeremiah 46:5
    Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and have ...
    Jeremiah 49:29
    Their tents and their flocks shall be taken, th...
  11. Cross References
    Psalms 38:17
    For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever before me.
  12. Cross References
    Isaiah 14:30
    And the firstborn of the poor will graze, and the needy lie down in safety; but I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant it will slay.
  13. Cross References
    Revelation 9:11
    They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
  14. Cross References
    Psalms 11:6
    Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
    Ezekiel 38:22
    With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur.
  15. Cross References
    Job 29:19
    My roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches.
    Hosea 9:16
    Ephraim is stricken; their root is dried up; they shall bear no fruit. Even though they give birth, I will put their beloved children to death.
  16. Cross References
    Job 14:2
    He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.
  17. Cross References
    Psalms 34:16
    The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
    Proverbs 10:7
    The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
    Psalms 109:13
    May his posterity be cut off; may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
    Psalms 109:15
    Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!
  18. Cross References
    Job 10:21 - 22
    Before I go - and I shall not return - to the land of darkness and deep shadow.
  19. Cross References
    Isaiah 14:22
    I will rise up against them," declares the Lord of hosts, "and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, descendants and posterity," declares the Lord.
  20. Cross References
    Psalms 37:13
    But the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees ...
    Jeremiah 50:27
    Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the sla...
    Ezekiel 21:25
    And you, O profane wicked one, prince of Israel...
    Ezekiel 21:29
    While they see for you false visions, while the...
    Obadiah 1:12
    But do not gloat over the day of your brother i...
    1 Samuel 26:10
    And David said, "As the Lord lives, the Lord wi...
  21. Cross References
    Job 21:6
    When I remember, I am dismayed, and shuddering seizes my flesh.
  22. Cross References
    Judges 2:10
    And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.
    Jeremiah 9:3
    They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord.
    Jeremiah 10:25
    Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not, and on the peoples that call not on your name, for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.
    1 Thessalonians 4:8
    Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
    2 Thessalonians 1:8
    In flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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