Job 8

ISV^{(i) 1} Bildad: God Rewards the GodlyThen in response, Bildad from Shuah said: ² “How long will you keep talking like this? How long will you keep talking like a wind storm? ³ Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what’s right? ⁴ “If your children sin against him, he’ll make them a prisoner of their sins. ⁵ If you seek God, if you ask the Almighty for mercy, ⁶ if you are clean and upright, surely then, he’ll act on your behalf and restore your rightful place. ⁷ Your beginning may be small, but later years will be very great. ⁸ “Inquire of the previous generation, won’t you please? Consider what their forefathers searched out. ⁹ Because we are of yesterday and we know nothing, for our time on earth is only a shadow. ¹⁰ Won’t they instruct you, and tell you, and bring out words from the heart? ¹¹ “Can papyrus grow where there’s no marsh? Can reeds flourish without water? ¹² While they are still green and not yet ready to be harvested, they wither before any plant. ¹³ Such are the paths of everyone who forgets God— the hope of the godless will be destroyed: ¹⁴ his confidence is shattered; his trust is in a spider’s web. ¹⁵ He leans against his house, but it won’t stand; he grabs hold of it firmly, but it doesn’t last. ¹⁶ He is a fresh sapling planted in the sunlight, spreading out its branches over its garden. ¹⁷ Its roots weave around a pile of stones, seeking to entrench itself among the rocks. ¹⁸ If he is uprooted from his place,
then it will deny him: ‘I never saw you.’ ¹⁹ “Indeed, this is the benefit of God’s way: from the soil other plants will sprout. ²⁰ Surely God won’t reject those who are blameless or hold hands with those who practice evil. ²¹ He will soon fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips will shout with joy. ²² Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will no longer exist.