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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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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”