Job 8:7-20

English Standard Version

⁸ “For ^(B)inquire, please, of bygone ages,
    and consider what ^(C)the fathers have searched out.
⁹ For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,
    for our days on earth are ^(D)a shadow.
¹⁰ Will they not teach you and tell you
    and utter words out of their understanding?

¹¹ “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
    Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
¹² While yet in flower and not cut down,
    they ^(E)wither before any other plant.
¹³ Such are the paths of all who ^(F)forget God;
    ^(G)the hope of ^(H)the godless shall perish.
¹⁴ His confidence is severed,
    and his trust is ^(I)a spider's web.^[a]
15 He leans against his ^(J)house, but it does not stand;
    he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.
¹⁶ He is a lush plant before the sun,
    and his ^(K)shoots spread over his garden.
¹⁷ His roots entwine the stone heap;
    he looks upon a house of stones.
¹⁸ If he is destroyed from his ^(L)place,
    then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never ^(M)seen you.’
¹⁹ Behold, this is the joy of his way,
    and out of ^(N)the soil others will spring.

²⁰ “Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,
    nor take the hand of evildoers.