📖 Job — Chapter 18 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Job 18:1 Then answered RBildad the Shuhite, and said,
Job 18:2 RHow long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.
Job 18:3 RWherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?
Job 18:4 He Rteareth Thimself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?
Job 18:5 Yea, Rthe light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
Job 18:6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his RTcandle shall be put out with him.
Job 18:7 The Rsteps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.
Job 18:8 For Rhe is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.
Job 18:9 RThe gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.
Job 18:10 The Rsnare is Tlaid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.
Job 18:11 RTerrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall Tdrive him to his feet.
Job 18:12 His strength shall be hungerbitten, and Rdestruction shall be ready at his side.
Job 18:13 It shall devour the Tstrength of his skin: even Rthe firstborn of death shall devour his strength.
Job 18:14 His Rconfidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.
Job 18:15 It shall Rdwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.
Job 18:16 His Rroots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.
Job 18:17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.
Job 18:18 RTHe shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.
Job 18:19 He shall Rneither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.
Job 18:20 They that come after him shall be Rastonied at his day, as they that Twent before Twere affrighted.
Job 18:21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that Rknoweth not God.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 18:1–7 — Bildad's frustrated reply
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Bildad objects to Job's treatment of the friends and returns to the claim that the wicked person's light and strength must fail. His response focuses on defending the friends' standing rather than learning from Job's pain. A defensive conversation can become a contest in which the original need is forgotten.
Key Truth: Do not let defensiveness displace the purpose of comfort.
Check What You Remember
1. Which friend speaks here? (Job 18:1)
Find it in Job 18:1 (KJV).
2. What animals does he say the friends are being counted as? (Job 18:3)
Find it in Job 18:3 (KJV).
3. Whose light does he say will go out? (Job 18:5)
Find it in Job 18:5 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 18:8–15 — Traps and terrors
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Bildad piles up images of nets, snares, hunger, and destruction around the wicked. Such language closely echoes Job's predicament but does not prove he deserves it. The book's opening gives readers reason to resist that inference. Repeated imagery can intensify an accusation without adding evidence.
Key Truth: Do not mistake repeated accusation for proof.
Check What You Remember
1. What catches the feet in Bildad's picture? (Job 18:8)
Find it in Job 18:8 (KJV).
2. What does he say terrors do on every side? (Job 18:11)
Find it in Job 18:11 (KJV).
3. What title names death's terror in the speech? (Job 18:14)
Find it in Job 18:14 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 18:16–21 — A complete ruin imagined
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The speech ends with dried roots, cut branches, lost remembrance, and no descendants. Bildad labels this the fate of one who does not know God. Because Job has lost children and standing, the implication is severe. The narrator has already said Job fears God, so the reader must keep the speaker's accusation distinct from that testimony.
Key Truth: Keep the narrator's testimony distinct from a character's accusation.
Check What You Remember
1. What is dried beneath in the image? (Job 18:16)
Find it in Job 18:16 (KJV).
2. What does Bildad say will perish from the earth? (Job 18:17)
Find it in Job 18:17 (KJV).
3. Whom does Bildad say this place belongs to? (Job 18:21)
Find it in Job 18:21 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
Job 1:1 — The narrator's description of Job directly resists treating him as someone who does not know or fear God.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
How can you stop a conversation from becoming repeated blame instead of careful listening?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. What complaint introduces Bildad’s description of the wicked?
2. How do light and candle imagery portray the wicked person’s condition?
3. What role do the net, snare, gin, and trap play?
4. How do roots and branches connect present loss with a future name?
5. How does Bildad frame the entire closing picture?
Notes
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