Job 18:2-12

2 Quand finirez-vous ces discours? Ayez du bon sens, et ensuite parlons.
3 Pourquoi sommes-nous regardés comme des bêtes, et sommes-nous stupides à vos yeux?
4 O toi qui te déchires toi-même dans ta fureur, la terre sera-t-elle abandonnée à cause de toi, et le rocher sera-t-il transporté hors de sa place?
5 Oui, la lumière du méchant s'éteindra, et la flamme de son feu ne brillera pas.
6 La lumière s'obscurcira dans sa tente, et la lampe s'éteindra au-dessus de lui.
7 Ses pas si puissants seront restreints, et son propre conseil le renversera.
8 Car il sera pris dans les filets par ses pieds, et il marchera sur le piège.
9 Le lacet le tiendra par le talon, et le filet le saisira:
10 Une corde est cachée pour lui sous terre, et une trappe sur son sentier.
11 De tous côtés des terreurs l'assiégeront, et feront courir ses pieds çà et là.
12 Sa vigueur sera affamée; la calamité se tiendra prête à ses côtés.

Job 18:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 18

In this chapter is Bildad's second reply to Job, in which he falls with great fury upon him, very sharply inveighs against him, and very highly charges him; the charges he brings against him are talkativeness and inattention to what was said to him, Job 18:1,2; contempt of his friends, impatience under his affliction, and pride and arrogance, as if the whole world, the course of nature and providence, and God himself all must give way to him, Job 18:3,4; nevertheless, he is assured of the miserable state of a wicked man, sooner or later, which is described by the extinction of his light of prosperity, Job 18:5,6; by the defeat of his counsels, being ensnared in a net laid for him, Job 18:7-10; by the terrible judgments of the sword, famine, and pestilence, by one or the other of which he is brought to death, the king of terrors, Job 18:11-14; by the destruction of his habitation and of his posterity, so that he has none to hear his name, or perpetuate his memory, Job 18:15-17; by his being driven out of the world, leaving no issue behind him, to the astonishment of all that knew him, Job 18:18-20; and the chapter is closed with this observation, that this is the common case of wicked and irreligious persons, Job 18:21.

The Ostervald translation is in the public domain.