Job 17-18

Job Continues: Where Then Is My Hope?

17 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinct;
    the graveyard is ready for me.
² Surely there are mockers about me,
    and my eye dwells on their provocation.

³ “Lay down a pledge for me with you;
    who is there who will put up security for me?
⁴ Since you have closed their hearts to understanding,
    therefore you will not let them triumph.
⁵ He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property—
    the eyes of his children will fail.

⁶ “He has made me a byword of the peoples,
    and I am one before whom men spit.
⁷ My eye has grown dim from vexation,
    and all my members are like a shadow.
⁸ The upright are appalled at this,
    and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.
⁹ Yet the righteous holds to his way,
    and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.
¹⁰ But you, come on again, all of you,
    and I shall not find a wise man among you.
¹¹ My days are past; my plans are broken off,
    the desires of my heart.
¹² They make night into day:
    ‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’^[a]
13 If I hope for Sheol as my house,
    if I make my bed in darkness,
¹⁴ if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’
    and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
¹⁵ where then is my hope?
    Who will see my hope?
¹⁶ Will it go down to the bars of Sheol?
    Shall we descend together into the dust?”^[b]

Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked

18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

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

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

Footnotes

1. Job 17:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
2. Job 17:16 Or Will they go down to the bars of Sheol? Is rest to be found together in the dust?

Job Prays for Relief

17 “My spirit is broken,
My days are extinguished,
The grave is ready for me.
² Are not mockers with me?
And does not my eye ^[a]dwell on their provocation?

³ “Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself.
Who is he who will shake hands with me?
⁴ For You have hidden their heart from understanding;
Therefore You will not exalt them.
⁵ He who speaks flattery to his friends,
Even the eyes of his children will fail.

⁶ “But He has made me a byword of the people,
And I have become one in whose face men spit.
⁷ My eye has also grown dim because of sorrow,
And all my members are like shadows.
⁸ Upright men are astonished at this,
And the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite.
⁹ Yet the righteous will hold to his way,
And he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.

¹⁰ “But please, come back again, ^[b]all of you,
For I shall not find one wise man among you.
¹¹ My days are past,
My purposes are broken off,
Even the ^[c]thoughts of my heart.
¹² They change the night into day;
‘The light is near,’ they say, in the face of darkness.
¹³ If I wait for the grave as my house,
If I make my bed in the darkness,
¹⁴ If I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
And to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’
¹⁵ Where then is my hope?
As for my hope, who can see it?
¹⁶ Will they go down to the gates of ^[d]Sheol?
Shall we have rest together in the dust?”

Bildad: The Wicked Are Punished

18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

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^[e] 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 ^[f]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 ^[g]among the renowned.
^18 [h]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 ^[i]in the west are astonished at his day,
As those ^[j]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.”

Footnotes

1. Job 17:2 Lit. lodge
2. Job 17:10 So with some Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg.; MT, Tg. all of them
3. Job 17:11 desires
4. Job 17:16 The abode of the dead
5. Job 18:4 Lit. one who tears his soul
6. Job 18:13 parts
7. Job 18:17 Lit. before the outside, i.e., the distinguished or famous
8. Job 18:18 Or They drive him
9. Job 18:20 Lit. who came after
10. Job 18:20 Lit. who have gone before