8

Bildad

 1Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
  2“How long will you say such things?
   Your words are a blustering wind.
  3Does God pervert justice?
   Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
  4When your children sinned against him,
   he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
  5But if you will seek God earnestly
   and plead with the Almighty,
  6if you are pure and upright,
   even now he will rouse himself on your behalf
   and restore you to your prosperous state.
  7Your beginnings will seem humble,
   so prosperous will your future be.

  8“Ask the former generation
   and find out what their ancestors learned,
  9for we were born only yesterday and know nothing,
   and our days on earth are but a shadow.
  10Will they not instruct you and tell you?
   Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?
  11Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
   Can reeds thrive without water?
  12While still growing and uncut,
   they wither more quickly than grass.
  13Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
   so perishes the hope of the godless.
  14What they trust in is fragile⚓ ;
   what they rely on is a spider’s web.
  15They lean on the web, but it gives way;
   they cling to it, but it does not hold.
  16They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,
   spreading its shoots over the garden;
  17it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks
   and looks for a place among the stones.
  18But when it is torn from its spot,
   that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’
  19Surely its life withers away,
   and⚓ from the soil other plants grow.

  20“Surely God does not reject one who is blameless
   or strengthen the hands of evildoers.
  21He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
   and your lips with shouts of joy.
  22Your enemies will be clothed in shame,
   and the tents of the wicked will be no more.”

8

Bildad: Job Should Repent

 1Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
   2“How long will you speak these things,
   And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?
    3⚓Does God subvert judgment?
   Or does the Almighty pervert justice?
    4If ⚓your sons have sinned against Him,
   He has cast them away for their transgression.
    5⚓If you would earnestly seek God
   And make your supplication to the Almighty,
    6If you were pure and upright,
   Surely now He would awake for you,
   And prosper your rightful dwelling place.
    7Though your beginning was small,
   Yet your latter end would ⚓increase abundantly.
   8“For⚓ inquire, please, of the former age,
   And consider the things discovered by their fathers;
    9For ⚓we were born yesterday, and know nothing,
   Because our days on earth are a shadow.
    10Will they not teach you and tell you,
   And utter words from their heart?
   11“Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?
   Can the reeds flourish without water?
    12⚓While it is yet green and not cut down,
   It withers before any other plant.
    13So are the paths of all who ⚓forget God;
   And the hope of the ⚓hypocrite shall perish,
    14Whose confidence shall be cut off,
   And whose trust is a spider’s web.
    15⚓He leans on his house, but it does not stand.
   He holds it fast, but it does not endure.
    16He grows green in the sun,
   And his branches spread out in his garden.
    17His roots wrap around the rock heap,
   And look for a place in the stones.
    18⚓If he is destroyed from his place,
   Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’
   19“Behold, this is the joy of His way,
   And ⚓out of the earth others will grow.
    20Behold, ⚓God will not cast away the blameless,
   Nor will He uphold the evildoers.
    21He will yet fill your mouth with laughing,
   And your lips with rejoicing.
    22Those who hate you will be ⚓clothed with shame,
   And the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing.”