11 “Can papyrus grow tall without a marsh?
Can the rushes grow without water?
12 While it is still green and not cut down,
Yet it withers before any other [a]plant.
13 So are the paths of (A)all who forget God;
And the (B)hope of the godless will perish,
14 His confidence is fragile,
And his trust is a (C)spider’s [b]web.
15 He depends on his (D)house, but it does not stand;
He holds on to it, but it does not endure.
16 He (E)flourishes before the sun,
And his (F)shoots spread out over his garden.
17 His roots wrap around a rock pile,
He [c]grasps a house of stones.
18 If he is [d]removed from (G)his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, ‘(H)I never saw you.’
19 Behold, (I)this is the joy of His way;
And out of the dust others will spring.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 8:12 Lit reed
  2. Job 8:14 Lit house
  3. Job 8:17 Heb sees
  4. Job 8:18 Lit swallowed up

11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is not a marsh?
Will reeds flourish without water?[a]
12 While it is in its flower and is not plucked,
yet[b] it withers before[c] all grass.
13 So are the paths of all who forget God;
and the hope of the godless will perish,
14 whose confidence is cut off
and whose trust[d] is a spider’s house.
15 He will lean himself against his house, but[e] it will not stand;
he will take hold of it, but[f] it will not endure.
16 He is thriving[g] before[h] the sun,
and his plant shoots spread over his garden.
17 His roots twine over a stone heap;
he sees a house of stone.
18 If he destroys him from his place,
then[i] it deceives him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’
19 Look, this is the joy of his way,
and from dust others will spring up.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 8:11 Or “where there is no water”
  2. Job 8:12 Hebrew “and”
  3. Job 8:12 Literally “to the faces of”
  4. Job 8:14 Literally “his trust”
  5. Job 8:15 Hebrew “and”
  6. Job 8:15 Hebrew “and”
  7. Job 8:16 Literally “soaked,” or “well-watered”
  8. Job 8:16 Literally “to the faces of”
  9. Job 8:18 Hebrew “and”