11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?(A)
    Can reeds(B) thrive without water?
12 While still growing and uncut,
    they wither more quickly than grass.(C)
13 Such is the destiny(D) of all who forget God;(E)
    so perishes the hope of the godless.(F)
14 What they trust in is fragile[a];
    what they rely on is a spider’s web.(G)
15 They lean on the web,(H) but it gives way;
    they cling to it, but it does not hold.(I)
16 They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,
    spreading its shoots(J) over the garden;(K)
17 it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks
    and looks for a place among the stones.
18 But when it is torn from its spot,
    that place disowns(L) it and says, ‘I never saw you.’(M)
19 Surely its life withers(N) away,
    and[b] from the soil other plants grow.(O)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 8:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  2. Job 8:19 Or Surely all the joy it has / is that

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