8 Bildad the Shuchi spoke next:

² “How long will you go on talking like this?
What you are saying is raging wind!
³ Does God distort judgment?
Does Shaddai pervert justice?
⁴ If your children sinned against him,
he left them to be victims of their own offense.

⁵ “If you will earnestly seek God
and plead for Shaddai’s favor,
⁶ if you are pure and upright;
then he will rouse himself for you
and fulfill your needs.
⁷ Then, although your beginnings were small,
your future will be very great indeed.

⁸ “Ask the older generation,
and consider what their ancestors found out;
⁹ for we who were born yesterday know nothing,
our days on earth are but a shadow.
¹⁰ They will teach you, they will tell you,
they will say what is in their hearts:
¹¹ ‘Can papyrus grow except in a marsh?
Can swamp grass flourish without water?
¹² While still green, before being cut down,
it dries up faster than any other plant.
¹³ Such are the paths of all who forget God;
the hope of a hypocrite will perish —
¹⁴ his confidence is mere gossamer,
his trust a spider’s web.
¹⁵ He can lean on his house, but it won’t stand;
he can hold on to it, but it won’t last;
¹⁶ [for its destruction will come] like the lush growth
of a plant in the sun,
its shoots may spread out all over its garden,
¹⁷ but meanwhile its roots cause the stone house
to collapse, as it seizes hold of the rocks;
¹⁸ someone who tears it away from its place
denies he has ever seen it.
¹⁹ Yes, this is the “joy” of the way [of the godless],
and out of the dust will spring up others [like him].’

²⁰ “Look, God will not reject a blameless man;
nor will he uphold wrongdoers.
²¹ He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.
²² Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will cease to exist.”