Job 8 (New International Version)

Job 8

Bildad

 ² "How long will you say such things?
       Your words are a blustering wind.

 ³ Does God pervert justice?
       Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

 ⁴ When your children sinned against him,
       he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.

 ⁵ But if you will look to God
       and plead with the Almighty,

 ⁶ if you are pure and upright,
       even now he will rouse himself on your behalf
       and restore you to your rightful place.

 ⁷ Your beginnings will seem humble,
       so prosperous will your future be.

 ⁸ "Ask the former generations
       and find out what their fathers learned,

 ⁹ for we were born only yesterday and know nothing,
       and our days on earth are but a shadow.

 ¹⁰ Will they not instruct you and tell you?
       Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?

 ¹¹ Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
       Can reeds thrive without water?

 ¹² While still growing and uncut,
       they wither more quickly than grass.

 ¹³ Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
       so perishes the hope of the godless.

 ¹⁴ What he trusts in is fragile ^[a] ;
       what he relies on is a spider's web.

 ¹⁵ He leans on his web, but it gives way;
       he clings to it, but it does not hold.

 ¹⁶ He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,
       spreading its shoots over the garden;

 ¹⁷ it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks
       and looks for a place among the stones.

 ¹⁸ But when it is torn from its spot,
       that place disowns it and says, 'I never saw you.'

 ¹⁹ Surely its life withers away,
       and ^[b] from the soil other plants grow.

 ²⁰ "Surely God does not reject a blameless man
       or strengthen the hands of evildoers.

 ²¹ He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
       and your lips with shouts of joy.

 ²² Your enemies will be clothed in shame,
       and the tents of the wicked will be no more."