Job 8
New King James Version
Bildad: Job Should Repent
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2 “How long will you speak these things,
And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?
3 (A)Does God subvert judgment?
Or does the Almighty pervert justice?
4 If (B)your sons have sinned against Him,
He has cast them away [a]for their transgression.
5 (C)If you would earnestly seek God
And make your supplication to the Almighty,
6 If you were pure and upright,
Surely now He would [b]awake for you,
And prosper your rightful dwelling place.
7 Though your beginning was small,
Yet your latter end would (D)increase abundantly.
8 “For(E) inquire, please, of the former age,
And consider the things discovered by their fathers;
9 For (F)we were born yesterday, and know [c]nothing,
Because our days on earth are a shadow.
10 Will they not teach you and tell you,
And utter words from their heart?
11 “Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?
Can the reeds flourish without water?
12 (G)While it is yet green and not cut down,
It withers before any other plant.
13 So are the paths of all who (H)forget God;
And the hope of the (I)hypocrite shall perish,
14 Whose confidence shall be cut off,
And whose trust is [d]a spider’s web.
15 (J)He leans on his house, but it does not stand.
He holds it fast, but it does not endure.
16 He grows green in the sun,
And his branches spread out in his garden.
17 His roots wrap around the rock heap,
And look for a place in the stones.
18 (K)If he is destroyed from his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’
19 “Behold, this is the joy of His way,
And (L)out of the earth others will grow.
20 Behold, (M)God will not [e]cast away the blameless,
Nor will He uphold the evildoers.
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughing,
And your lips with [f]rejoicing.
22 Those who hate you will be (N)clothed with shame,
And the dwelling place of the wicked [g]will come to nothing.”
Job 8
Names of God Bible
Bildad Speaks: You Are Unjustly Accusing God of Doing Evil, Job
8 Then Bildad from Shuah replied to Job,
2 “How long will you say these things?
How long will your words be so windy?
3 Does El distort justice,
or does Shadday distort righteousness?
4 If your children sinned against him,
he allowed them to suffer the consequences of their sinfulness.
5 If you search for El
and plead for mercy from Shadday,
6 if you are moral and ethical,
then he will rise up on your behalf
and prove your righteousness by rebuilding your home.[a]
7 Then what you had in the past will seem small
compared with the great prosperity you’ll have in the future.
Learn from Past Generations
8 “Ask the people of past generations.
Find out what their ancestors had learned.
9 We have only been around since yesterday, and we know nothing.
Our days on earth are only a fleeting shadow.
10 Won’t their words teach you?
Won’t they share their thoughts with you?
God Does Not Punish the Innocent Person
11 “Can papyrus grow up where there is no swamp?
Can rushes grow tall without water?
12 Even if they were fresh and not cut,
they would wither quicker than grass.
13 The same thing happens to all who forget El.
The hope of the godless dies.
14 His confidence is easily shattered.
His trust is a spider’s web.
15 If one leans on his house, it collapses.
If one holds on to it, it will not support his weight.
16 He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine.
The shoots spread over his garden.
17 Its roots weave through a pile of stones.
They cling to a stone house.
18 But when it is uprooted from its place,
the ground denies it and says, ‘I never saw you!’
19 That is its joy in this life,
and others sprout from the same ground to take its place.
20 “Certainly, El does not reject a person of integrity
or give a helping hand to wicked people.
21 He will fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with happy shouting.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will cease to exist.”
Footnotes
- Job 8:6 English equivalent of this line difficult.
Job 8
Young's Literal Translation
8 And Bildad the Shuhite answereth and saith: --
2 Till when dost thou speak these things? And a strong wind -- sayings of thy mouth?
3 Doth God pervert judgment? And doth the Mighty One pervert justice?
4 If thy sons have sinned before Him, And He doth send them away, By the hand of their transgression,
5 If thou dost seek early unto God, And unto the Mighty makest supplication,
6 If pure and upright thou [art], Surely now He waketh for thee, And hath completed The habitation of thy righteousness.
7 And thy beginning hath been small, And thy latter end is very great.
8 For, ask I pray thee of a former generation, And prepare to a search of their fathers,
9 (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!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.