8
1 Then
Bildad the Shuhite
answered,
2 “How
long will you
speak these things?
Shall the words
of your mouth
be a mighty
wind?
3 Does God
pervert justice?
Or does the
Almighty pervert
righteousness?
4 If
your children have
sinned against him,
he has delivered
them into the
hand of
their disobedience.
5 If
you want to
seek God diligently,
make your
supplication to
the Almighty.
6 If
you were pure
and upright,
surely now he
would awaken for
you,
and make the
habitation of your
righteousness prosperous.
7 Though your
beginning was
small,
yet your latter end would greatly
increase.
8 “Please
inquire of past
generations.
Find out about
the learning of
their fathers.
9 (For
we are but
of yesterday, and
know nothing,
because our days
on earth are a
shadow.)
10 Shall
they not teach
you, tell you,
and utter words
out of their
heart?
11 “Can
the papyrus grow
up without mire?
Can the rushes
grow without water?
12 While
it is yet
in its greenness,
not cut down,
it withers before
any other reed.
13 So are
the paths of all
who forget God.
The hope of
the godless man
will perish,
14 whose
confidence will break apart,
whose trust is
a spider’s web.
15 He
will lean on
his house, but
it will not
stand.
He will cling to
it, but it
will not endure.
16 He
is green before
the sun.
His shoots go
out along his
garden.
17 His
roots are wrapped
around the rock
pile.
He sees the
place of 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.
Out of the
earth, others will
spring.
20 “Behold,
God will not
cast away a
blameless man,
neither will
he uphold the
evildoers.
21 He
will still fill
your mouth with
laughter,
your lips with
shouting.
22 Those
who hate you
will be clothed
with shame.
The tent of the
wicked will be
no more.”