Job 8
1Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, 1
2“How long will you say these things? 1 How long will the words of your mouth be a mighty wind? 1
3Does God pervert justice? 1 Does the Almighty pervert righteousness? 1
4Your children have sinned against him; 1 we know this, for he gave them into the hand of their sins. 1
5But suppose you diligently sought God 1 and presented your request to the Almighty. 1
6If you are pure and upright, 1 then he would surely stir himself on your behalf 1 and restore you to your rightful place. 1
7Even though your beginning was small, 1 still your final condition would be much greater. 1
8Please ask the former generations, 1 and give your attention to what our ancestors learned. 1
9(We were only born yesterday and know nothing 1 because our days on earth are a shadow). 1
10Will they not teach you and tell you? 1 Will they not speak words from their hearts? 1
11Can papyrus grow without a marsh? 1 Can reeds grow without water? 1
12While they are still green and not cut down, 1 they wither before any other plant. 1
13So also are the paths of all who forget God; 1 the hope of the godless will perish. 1
14His confidence will break apart, 1 and his trust is as weak as a spider's web. 1
15He leans on his house, but it will not support him; 1 he takes hold of it, but it does not stand. 1
16Under the sun he is green, 1 and his shoots go out over his entire garden. 1
17His roots are wrapped about the heaps of stone; 1 they look for good places among the rocks. 1
18But if this person is destroyed out of his place, 1 then that place will deny him and say, 'I never saw you.' 1
19See, this is the “joy” of such a person's behavior; 1 other plants will sprout out of the same soil in his place. 1
20See, God will not cast away an innocent man; 1 neither will he take the hand of evildoers. 1
21He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, 1 your lips with shouting. 1
22Those who hate you will be clothed with shame; 1 the tent of the wicked will be no more.”