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(A) will perish.

14 His source of confidence is fragile;[b]
what he trusts in is a spider’s web.(B)
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.”(C)
19 Surely this is the joy of his way of life;
yet others will sprout from the dust.

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Footnotes

  1. 8:13 Lit Such are the ways
  2. 8:14 Or cut off; Hb obscure
  3. 8:18 Or destroyed

11 “Can papyrus reeds grow tall without a marsh?
    Can marsh grass flourish without water?
12 While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut,
    they begin to wither more quickly than grass.
13 The same happens to all who forget God.
    The hopes of the godless evaporate.
14 Their confidence hangs by a thread.
    They are leaning on a spider’s web.
15 They cling to their home for security, but it won’t last.
    They try to hold it tight, but it will not endure.
16 The godless seem like a lush plant growing in the sunshine,
    its branches spreading across the garden.
17 Its roots grow down through a pile of stones;
    it takes hold on a bed of rocks.
18 But when it is uprooted,
    it’s as though it never existed!
19 That’s the end of its life,
    and others spring up from the earth to replace it.

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