Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
The Message Bible MSG
1 Then Baldad the Suhite answered, and said:
1
Bildad from Shuhah chimed in:
2 How long will you throw out words? understand first, and so let us speak.
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"How monotonous these word games are getting! Get serious! We need to get down to business.
3 Why are we reputed as beasts, and counted vile before you?
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Why do you treat your friends like slow-witted animals? You look down on us as if we don't know anything.
4 Thou that destroyest thy soul in thy fury, shall the earth be forsaken for thee, and shall rocks be removed out of their 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 Shall not the light of the wicked be extinguished, and the flame of his fire not shine?
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"Here's the rule: The light of the wicked is put out. Their flame dies down and is extinguished.
6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and the lamp that is over him, shall be put out.
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Their house goes dark - every lamp in the place goes out.
7 The step of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down headlong.
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Their strong strides weaken, falter; they stumble into their own traps.
8 For he hath thrust his feet into a net, and walketh in its meshes.
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They get all tangled up in their own red tape,
9 The sole of his foot shall be held in a snare, and thirst shall burn against him.
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Their feet are grabbed and caught, their necks in a noose.
10 A gin is hidden for him in the earth, and his trap upon the path.
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They trip on ropes they've hidden, and fall into pits they've dug themselves.
11 Fears shall terrify him on every side, and shall entangle his feet.
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Terrors come at them from all sides. They run helter-skelter.
12 Let his strength be wasted with famine, and let hunger invade his ribs.
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The hungry grave is ready to gobble them up for supper,
13 Let it devour the beauty of his skin, let the firstborn death consume his arms.
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To lay them out for a gourmet meal, a treat for ravenous Death.
14 Let his confidence be rooted out of his tabernacle, and let destruction tread upon him like a king.
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They are snatched from their home sweet home and marched straight to the death house.
15 Let the companions of him that is not, dwell in his tabernacle, let brimstone be sprinkled in his tent.
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Their lives go up in smoke; acid rain soaks their ruins.
16 Let his roots be dried up beneath, and his harvest destroyed above.
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Their roots rot and their branches wither.
17 Let the memory of him perish from the earth, and let not his name be renowned in the streets.
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They'll never again be remembered - nameless in unmarked graves.
18 He shall drive him out of light into darkness, and shall remove him out of the world.
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They are plunged from light into darkness, banished from the world.
19 His seed shall not subsist, nor his offspring among his people, nor any remnants in his country.
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And they leave empty-handed - not one single child - nothing to show for their life on this earth.
20 They that come after him shall be astonished at his day, and horror shall fall upon them that went before.
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Westerners are aghast at their fate, easterners are horrified:
21 These then are the tabernacles of the wicked, and this the place of him that knoweth not God.
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'Oh no! So this is what happens to perverse people. This is how the God-ignorant end up!'"
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.
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.