A thoughtful guide for your walk of faith Read with context, practice with grace.
Wisdom & Poetry · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

Job 18

Suffering, protest, limited human knowledge, friendship, and encounter with the sovereign God.

Old Testament

Job 18

1Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

2“How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and afterwards we will speak.

3Why are we counted as animals, which have become unclean in your sight?

4You who tear yourself in your anger, will the earth be forsaken for you? Or will the rock be removed out of its place?

5“Yes, the light of the wicked will be put out. The spark of his fire won’t shine.

6The light will be dark in his tent. His lamp above him will be put out.

7The steps of his strength will be shortened. His own counsel will cast him down.

8For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he wanders into its mesh.

9A snare will take him by the heel. A trap will catch him.

10A noose is hidden for him in the ground, a trap for him on the path.

11Terrors will make him afraid on every side, and will chase him at his heels.

12His strength will be famished. Calamity will be ready at his side.

13The members of his body will be devoured. The firstborn of death will devour his members.

14He will be rooted out of the security of his tent. He will be brought to the king of terrors.

15There will dwell in his tent that which is none of his. Sulfur will be scattered on his habitation.

16His roots will be dried up beneath. His branch will be cut off above.

17His memory will perish from the earth. He will have no name in the street.

18He will be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.

19He will have neither son nor grandson among his people, nor any remaining where he lived.

20Those who come after will be astonished at his day, as those who went before were frightened.

21Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous. This is the place of him who doesn’t know God.”

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Suffering, protest, limited human knowledge, friendship, and encounter with the sovereign God. Read Job 18 within the complete Job overview, and use the contextual Bible reading guide before forming a personal application. Chapter divisions aid navigation, but the literary unit may begin earlier or continue into the next chapter.

Observe first

Mark repeated words, changes of speaker, commands, promises, contrasts, questions, and the relationship between paragraphs.

Apply responsibly

Distinguish description from command and immediate audience from later readers before forming a personal application.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in Job 18

Job 18 contains 21 verses and about 320 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: “Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 21 closes: “Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous. This is the place of him who doesn’t know God.”” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include will, light, tent, earth, place, above. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About Job 18

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, Job 18:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

You do not have to have everything figured out.

Begin with one honest question, one passage read carefully, and one faithful next step.

Start with prayer