Job 18:9-21

The Message

^5-21 “Here’s the rule: The light of the wicked is put out.
    Their flame dies down and is extinguished.
Their house goes dark—
    every lamp in the place goes out.
Their strong strides weaken, falter;
    they stumble into their own traps.
They get all tangled up
    in their own red tape,
Their feet are grabbed and caught,
    their necks in a noose.
They trip on ropes they’ve hidden,
    and fall into pits they’ve dug themselves.
Terrors come at them from all sides.
    They run dazed and confused.
The hungry grave is ready
    to gobble them up for supper,
To lay them out for a gourmet meal,
    a treat for ravenous Death.
They are snatched from their home sweet home
    and marched straight to the death house.
Their lives go up in smoke;
    acid rain soaks their ruins.
Their roots rot
    and their branches wither.
They’ll never again be remembered—
    nameless in unmarked graves.
They are plunged from light into darkness,
    banished from the world.
And they leave empty-handed—not one single child—
    nothing to show for their life on this earth.
Westerners are aghast at their fate,
    easterners are horrified:
‘Oh no! So this is what happens to perverse people.
    This is how the God-ignorant end up!’”