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Bildad Claims God Rewards the Good

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,

“How long will you say these things,
And the (A)words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
Does (B)God pervert justice?
Or does [a]the Almighty pervert what is right?
(C)If your sons sinned against Him,
Then He sent them into the [b]power of their transgression.
If you would (D)seek God earnestly
And plead for the grace of [c]the Almighty,
If you are pure and upright,
Indeed now (E)He would rouse Himself for you
And make your righteous (F)abode at peace.
Though your beginning was insignificant,
Yet your (G)end will increase greatly.

“Please (H)ask of past generations,
And establish the things searched out by their fathers.
For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,
Because (I)our days on earth are but a shadow.
10 Will they not instruct you and tell you,
And bring forth words from their hearts?

11 “Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?
Can the rushes grow without water?
12 While it is still green and not cut down,
Yet it dries up before any other [d]plant.
13 So are the paths of (J)all who forget God;
And the (K)hope of the godless will perish,
14 Whose confidence is fragile,
And whose trust a (L)spider’s [e]web.
15 He relies on his (M)house, but it does not stand;
He holds fast to it, but it is not established.
16 He [f](N)thrives before the sun,
And his (O)shoots go forth over his garden.
17 His roots wrap around a rock pile;
He looks upon a house of stones.
18 If He swallows him up from (P)his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, ‘(Q)I never saw you.’
19 Behold, (R)this is the joy of [g]His way;
And out of the dust others will spring.
20 Behold, (S)God will not reject a blameless man,
Nor (T)will He strengthen the hand of the evildoers.
21 He will yet fill (U)your mouth with laughter
And your lips with shouting.
22 Those who hate you will be (V)clothed with shame,
And the (W)tent of the wicked will be no longer.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 8:3 Heb Shaddai
  2. Job 8:4 Lit hand
  3. Job 8:5 Heb Shaddai
  4. Job 8:12 Lit reed
  5. Job 8:14 Lit house
  6. Job 8:16 Lit is lush
  7. Job 8:19 Or his

And Bildad the Shuhite answereth and saith: --

Till when dost thou speak these things? And a strong wind -- sayings of thy mouth?

Doth God pervert judgment? And doth the Mighty One pervert justice?

If thy sons have sinned before Him, And He doth send them away, By the hand of their transgression,

If thou dost seek early unto God, And unto the Mighty makest supplication,

If pure and upright thou [art], Surely now He waketh for thee, And hath completed The habitation of thy righteousness.

And thy beginning hath been small, And thy latter end is very great.

For, ask I pray thee of a former generation, And prepare to a search of their fathers,

(For of yesterday we [are], and we know not, For a shadow [are] our days on earth.)

10 Do they not shew thee -- speak to thee, And from their heart bring forth words?

11 `Doth a rush wise without mire? A reed increase without water?

12 While it [is] in its budding -- uncropt, Even before any herb it withereth.

13 So [are] the paths of all forgetting God, And the hope of the profane doth perish,

14 Whose confidence is loathsome, And the house of a spider his trust.

15 He leaneth on his house -- and it standeth not: He taketh hold on it -- and it abideth not.

16 Green he [is] before the sun, And over his garden his branch goeth out.

17 By a heap his roots are wrapped, A house of stones he looketh for.

18 If [one] doth destroy him from his place, Then it hath feigned concerning him, I have not seen thee!

19 Lo, this [is] the joy of his way, And from the dust others spring up.'

20 Lo, God doth not reject the perfect, Nor taketh hold on the hand of evil doers.

21 While he filleth with laughter thy mouth, And thy lips with shouting,

22 Those hating thee do put on shame, And the tent of the wicked is not!