Job 8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Bildad Speaks: Job Should Repent
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “How long will you say these things
and the words of your mouth be a great wind?
3 Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty[a] pervert the right?(A)
4 If your children sinned against him,
he delivered them into the power of their transgression.(B)
5 If you will seek God
and make supplication to the Almighty,[b](C)
6 if you are pure and upright,
surely then he will rouse himself for you
and restore to you your rightful place.(D)
7 Though your beginning was small,
your latter days will be very great.(E)
8 “For inquire now of bygone generations
and consider what their ancestors have found,(F)
9 for we are but of yesterday, and we know nothing,
for our days on earth are but a shadow.(G)
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and utter words out of their understanding?
11 “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
12 While yet in flower and not cut down,
they wither before any other plant.(H)
13 Such are the paths of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless shall perish.(I)
14 Their confidence is gossamer,
a spider’s house their trust.
15 If one leans against its house, it will not stand;
if one lays hold of it, it will not endure.(J)
16 The wicked thrive[c] before the sun,
and their shoots spread over the garden.(K)
17 Their roots twine around the stoneheap;
they live among the rocks.[d]
18 If they are destroyed from their place,
then it will deny them, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’(L)
19 See, these are their happy ways,[e]
and out of the earth still others will spring.
Job 8
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
8 The Baldad the Suhite answered, and said:
2 How long wilt thou speak these things, and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?
3 Doth God pervert judgment, or doth the Almighty overthrow that which is just?
4 Although thy children have sinned against him, and he hath left them in the hand of their iniquity:
5 Yet if thou wilt arise early to God, and wilt beseech the Almighty:
6 If thou wilt walk clean and upright, he will presently awake onto thee, and will make the dwelling of thy justice peaceable:
7 Insomuch, that if thy former things were small, thy latter things would be multiplied exceedingly.
8 For inquire of the former generation, and search diligently into the memory of the fathers:
9 (For we are but of yesterday, and are ignorant that our days upon earth are but a shadow:)
10 And they shall teach thee: they shall speak to thee, and utter words out of their hearts.
11 Can the rush be green without moisture? or a sedge-bush grow without water?
12 When it is yet in flower, and is not plucked up with the hand, it withereth before all herbs.
13 Even so are the ways of all that forget God, and the hope of the hypocrite shall perish:
14 His folly shall not please him, and his trust shall be like the spider's web.
15 He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand: he shall prop it up, and it shall not rise:
16 He seemeth to have moisture before the sun cometh, and at his rising his blossom shall shoot forth.
17 His roots shall be thick upon a heap of stones, and among the stones he shall abide.
18 If one swallow him up out of his place, he shall deny him, and shall say: I know thee not.
19 For this is the joy of his way, that others may spring again out of the earth.
20 God will not cast away the simple, nor reach out his hand to the evildoer:
21 Until thy mouth be filled with laughter, and thy lips with rejoicing.
22 They that hate thee, shall be clothed with confusion: and the dwelling of the wicked shall not stand.
Job 8
The Message
Bildad’s Response
Does God Mess Up?
8 1-7 Bildad from Shuhah was next to speak:
“How can you keep on talking like this?
You’re talking nonsense, and noisy nonsense at that.
Does God mess up?
Does God Almighty ever get things backward?
It’s plain that your children sinned against him—
otherwise, why would God have punished them?
Here’s what you must do—and don’t put it off any longer:
Get down on your knees before God Almighty.
If you’re as innocent and upright as you say,
it’s not too late—he’ll come running;
he’ll set everything right again, reestablish your fortunes.
Even though you’re not much right now,
you’ll end up better than ever.
To Hang Your Life from One Thin Thread
8-19 “Put the question to our ancestors,
study what they learned from their ancestors.
For we’re newcomers at this, with a lot to learn,
and not too long to learn it.
So why not let the ancients teach you, tell you what’s what,
instruct you in what they knew from experience?
Can mighty pine trees grow tall without soil?
Can luscious tomatoes flourish without water?
Blossoming flowers look beautiful before they’re cut or picked,
but without soil or water they wither more quickly than grass.
That’s what happens to all who forget God—
all their hopes come to nothing.
They hang their life from one thin thread,
they hitch their fate to a spider web.
One jiggle and the thread breaks,
one jab and the web collapses.
Or they’re like weeds springing up in the sunshine,
invading the garden,
Spreading everywhere, overtaking the flowers,
getting a foothold even in the rocks.
But when the gardener rips them out by the roots,
the garden doesn’t miss them one bit.
The sooner the godless are gone, the better;
then good plants can grow in their place.
20-22 “There’s no way that God will reject a good person,
and there is no way he’ll help a bad one.
God will let you laugh again;
you’ll raise the roof with shouts of joy,
With your enemies thoroughly discredited,
their house of cards collapsed.”
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson