8:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
8:2 “How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind.
8:3 Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
8:4 When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
8:5 But if you will look to God and plead with the Almighty,
8:6 if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your rightful place.
8:7 Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.
8:8 “Ask the former generations and find out what their fathers learned,
8:9 for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.
8:10 Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?
8:11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water?
8:12 While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass.
8:13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.
8:14 What he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spider’s web.
8:15 He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold.
8:16 He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden;
8:17 it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones.
8:18 But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’
8:19 Surely its life withers away, and from the soil other plants grow.
8:20 “Surely God does not reject a blameless man or strengthen the hands of evildoers.
8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
8:22 Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tents of the wicked will be no more.”
8:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
8:2 How long will you speak these things? / And how long will the words of your mouth be like a mighty wind?
8:3 Does God pervert justice? / Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?
8:4 If your children have sinned against Him, / He has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
8:5 If you seek earnestly after God / And make supplication unto the Almighty,
8:6 If you are pure and upright, / Then surely He will rouse Himself for you / And restore well-being to your righteous habitation.
8:7 And though your beginning was small, / Your end will be very great.
8:8 For inquire now of the former generation, / And attend to what their fathers have sought out.
8:9 For we are of yesterday and know nothing, / Because our days upon the earth are a shadow.
8:10 Will they not teach you and talk to you / And utter forth words from their heart?
8:11 Can papyrus shoot up without marsh? / Can reeds grow without water?
8:12 While it is still in its greenness and not cut down, / It withers before all other grasses.
8:13 So are the paths of all who forget God; / And the hope of the profane perishes,
8:14 Whose confidence is cut off, / And whose trust is a spider’s web.
8:15 He leans upon his house, but it will not stand; / He holds fast to it, but it will not endure.
8:16 He is full of sap before the sun, / And his shoots go forth over his garden.
8:17 His roots are entwined around a stone heap; / He looks upon a place of stones.
8:18 If one destroys him from his place, / Then it denies him, saying, I have not seen you.
8:19 Indeed, that is the joy of his way; / And others spring forth out of the dust.
8:20 Indeed, God will not reject a perfect man, / Nor will He support evildoers.
8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter / And your lips with shouting.
8:22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, / And the tent of the wicked will be no more.