11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?(A)
    Can reeds(B) thrive without water?
12 While still growing and uncut,
    they wither more quickly than grass.(C)
13 Such is the destiny(D) of all who forget God;(E)
    so perishes the hope of the godless.(F)
14 What they trust in is fragile[a];
    what they rely on is a spider’s web.(G)
15 They lean on the web,(H) but it gives way;
    they cling to it, but it does not hold.(I)
16 They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,
    spreading its shoots(J) over the garden;(K)
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(L) it and says, ‘I never saw you.’(M)
19 Surely its life withers(N) away,
    and[b] from the soil other plants grow.(O)

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

Job

Then Job replied:

“Indeed, I know that this is true.
    But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?(W)

Footnotes

  1. Job 8:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  2. Job 8:19 Or Surely all the joy it has / is that

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