Job 8
Lexham English Bible
Bildad’s First Response to Job
8 Then[a] Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,[b]
2 “How long[c] will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
3 Does God pervert justice,
or[d] Shaddai pervert righteousness?
4 If your children sinned against him,
then[e] he sent them into the power[f] of their transgression.
5 If you yourself[g] would seek God,
then[h] you would plead to Shaddai for grace.
6 If you are pure and upright,
indeed,[i] now he will rouse himself for you,
and he will restore your righteous abode.
7 Though[j] your beginning was small,
your end[k] will be very great.
8 “Indeed,[l] please inquire of former generations,
and consider what their ancestors have found,[m]
9 for we are of yesterday, and we do not know,
for our days on earth are a shadow.
10 Will they themselves[n] not teach you and tell you[o]
and utter[p] words from their heart?
11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is not a marsh?
Will reeds flourish without water?[q]
12 While it is in its flower and is not plucked,
yet[r] it withers before[s] all grass.
13 So are the paths of all who forget God;
and the hope of the godless will perish,
14 whose confidence is cut off
and whose trust[t] is a spider’s house.
15 He will lean himself against his house, but[u] it will not stand;
he will take hold of it, but[v] it will not endure.
16 He is thriving[w] before[x] the sun,
and his plant shoots spread over his garden.
17 His roots twine over a stone heap;
he sees a house of stone.
18 If he destroys him from his place,
then[y] it deceives him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’
19 Look, this is the joy of his way,
and from dust others will spring up.
20 “Look, God will not reject the blameless,
and he will not uphold the hand of evildoers.
21 Yet he will fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a shout of joy.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”[z]
Footnotes
- Job 8:1 Hebrew “And”
- Job 8:1 Hebrew “he said”
- Job 8:2 Literally “Until when”
- Job 8:3 Literally “and if”
- Job 8:4 Hebrew “and”
- Job 8:4 Literally “hand”
- Job 8:5 Emphatic personal pronoun
- Job 8:5 Hebrew “and”
- Job 8:6 Or “even,” or “yes”
- Job 8:7 Hebrew “And”
- Job 8:7 Hebrew “and your end”
- Job 8:8 Or “For”
- Job 8:8 Literally “as to the finding of their fathers”
- Job 8:10 Emphatic personal pronoun
- Job 8:10 Literally “they will say to you”
- Job 8:10 Literally “they will bring out”
- Job 8:11 Or “where there is no water”
- Job 8:12 Hebrew “and”
- Job 8:12 Literally “to the faces of”
- Job 8:14 Literally “his trust”
- Job 8:15 Hebrew “and”
- Job 8:15 Hebrew “and”
- Job 8:16 Literally “soaked,” or “well-watered”
- Job 8:16 Literally “to the faces of”
- Job 8:18 Hebrew “and”
- Job 8:22 Literally “there is not it,” or “it is not”
Job 8
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Bildad Speaks
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 How long will you go on saying these things?
Your words(A) are a blast of wind.(B)
3 Does God pervert justice?(C)
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?(D)
4 Since your children sinned against Him,
He gave them over to their rebellion.
5 But if you earnestly seek(E) God
and ask the Almighty for mercy,(F)
6 if you are pure and upright,
then He will move even now on your behalf
and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.(G)
7 Then, even if your beginnings were modest,
your final days will be full of prosperity.(H)
8 For ask the previous generation,
and pay attention to what their fathers discovered,(I)
9 since we were born only yesterday and know nothing.
Our days on earth are but a shadow.(J)
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and speak from their understanding?
11 Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Do reeds flourish without water?
12 While still uncut shoots,
they would dry up quicker than any other plant.
13 Such is the destiny[a] of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless(K) will perish.
14 His source of confidence is fragile;[b]
what he trusts in is a spider’s web.(L)
15 He leans on his web, but it doesn’t stand firm.
He grabs it, but it does not hold up.
16 He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine;
his shoots spread out over his garden.
17 His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks.
He looks for a home among the stones.
18 If he is uprooted[c] from his place,
it will deny knowing him, saying, “I never saw you.”(M)
19 Surely this is the joy of his way of life;
yet others will sprout from the dust.
20 Look, God does not reject a person of integrity,
and He will not support evildoers.(N)
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a shout of joy.(O)
22 Your enemies will be clothed with shame;(P)
the tent(Q) of the wicked will exist no longer.
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