JOIN THE JOURNEY JR.

Job 18

Bildad’s Second Response to Job

1Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

2“How long before you stop talking?

Speak sense if you want us to answer!

3Do you think we are mere animals?

Do you think we are stupid?

4You may tear out your hair in anger,

but will that destroy the earth?

Will it make the rocks tremble?

11“Terrors surround the wicked

and trouble them at every step.

12Hunger depletes their strength,

and calamity waits for them to stumble.

13Disease eats their skin;

death devours their limbs.

14They are torn from the security of their homes

and are brought down to the king of terrors.

15The homes of the wicked will burn down;

burning sulfur rains on their houses.

16Their roots will dry up,

and their branches will wither.

17All memory of their existence will fade from the earth;

no one will remember their names.

18They will be thrust from light into darkness,

driven from the world.

19They will have neither children nor grandchildren,

nor any survivor in the place where they lived.

20People in the west are appalled at their fate;

people in the east are horrified.

21They will say, ‘This was the home of a wicked person,

the place of one who rejected God.’”

27“Look, I know what you’re thinking.

I know the schemes you plot against me.

28You will tell me of rich and wicked people

whose houses have vanished because of their sins.

29But ask those who have been around,

and they will tell you the truth.

30Evil people are spared in times of calamity

and are allowed to escape disaster.

31No one criticizes them openly

or pays them back for what they have done.

32When they are carried to the grave,

an honor guard keeps watch at their tomb.

33A great funeral procession goes to the cemetery.

Many pay their respects as the body is laid to rest,

and the earth gives sweet repose.

34“How can your empty clichés comfort me?

All your explanations are lies!”