Job 8:11-19

New International Reader's Version

¹¹ Can grass grow tall where there isn’t any swamp?
    Can plants grow well where there isn’t any water?
¹² While they are still growing and haven’t been cut,
    they dry up faster than grass does.
¹³ The same thing happens to everyone who forgets God.
    The hope of ungodly people dies out.
¹⁴ What they trust in is very weak.
    What they depend on is like a spider’s web.
¹⁵ They lean on it, but it falls apart.
    They hold on to it, but it gives way.
¹⁶ They are like a plant in the sunshine
    that receives plenty of water.
    It spreads its new growth all over the garden.
¹⁷ It wraps its roots around a pile of rocks.
    It tries to find places to grow among the stones.
¹⁸ But when the plant is pulled up from its spot,
    that place says, ‘I never saw you.’
¹⁹ The life of that plant is sure to dry up.
    But from the same soil other plants will grow.