New Revised Standard NRS
The Message Bible MSG
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
1
Bildad from Shuhah chimed in:
2 "How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we shall speak.
2
"How monotonous these word games are getting! Get serious! We need to get down to business.
3 Why are we counted as cattle? Why are we stupid in your sight?
3
Why do you treat your friends like slow-witted animals? You look down on us as if we don't know anything.
4 You who tear yourself in your anger— shall the earth be forsaken because of you, or the rock be removed out of its place?
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Why are you working yourself up like this? Do you want the world redesigned to suit you? Should reality be suspended to accommodate you?
5 "Surely the light of the wicked is put out, and the flame of their fire does not shine.
5
"Here's the rule: The light of the wicked is put out. Their flame dies down and is extinguished.
6 The light is dark in their tent, and the lamp above them is put out.
6
Their house goes dark - every lamp in the place goes out.
7 Their strong steps are shortened, and their own schemes throw them down.
7
Their strong strides weaken, falter; they stumble into their own traps.
8 For they are thrust into a net by their own feet, and they walk into a pitfall.
8
They get all tangled up in their own red tape,
9 A trap seizes them by the heel; a snare lays hold of them.
9
Their feet are grabbed and caught, their necks in a noose.
10 A rope is hid for them in the ground, a trap for them in the path.
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They trip on ropes they've hidden, and fall into pits they've dug themselves.
11 Terrors frighten them on every side, and chase them at their heels.
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Terrors come at them from all sides. They run helter-skelter.
12 Their strength is consumed by hunger, and calamity is ready for their stumbling.
12
The hungry grave is ready to gobble them up for supper,
13 By disease their skin is consumed, the firstborn of Death consumes their limbs.
13
To lay them out for a gourmet meal, a treat for ravenous Death.
14 They are torn from the tent in which they trusted, and are brought to the king of terrors.
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They are snatched from their home sweet home and marched straight to the death house.
15 In their tents nothing remains; sulfur is scattered upon their habitations.
15
Their lives go up in smoke; acid rain soaks their ruins.
16 Their roots dry up beneath, and their branches wither above.
16
Their roots rot and their branches wither.
17 Their memory perishes from the earth, and they have no name in the street.
17
They'll never again be remembered - nameless in unmarked graves.
18 They are thrust from light into darkness, and driven out of the world.
18
They are plunged from light into darkness, banished from the world.
19 They have no offspring or descendant among their people, and no survivor where they used to live.
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And they leave empty-handed - not one single child - nothing to show for their life on this earth.
20 They of the west are appalled at their fate, and horror seizes those of the east.
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Westerners are aghast at their fate, easterners are horrified:
21 Surely such are the dwellings of the ungodly, such is the place of those who do not know God."
21
'Oh no! So this is what happens to perverse people. This is how the God-ignorant end up!'"
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.