NETtext - Job - 8

8:1  Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said:

8:2  "How long will you speak these things, seeing that the words of your mouth are like a great wind?

8:3  Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?

8:4  If your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.

8:5  But if you will look to God, and make your supplication to the Almighty,

8:6  if you become pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself for you, and will restore your righteous abode.

8:7  Your beginning will seem so small, since your future will flourish.

8:8  "For inquire now of the former generation, and pay attention to the findings of their ancestors;

8:9  For we were born yesterday and do not have knowledge, since our days on earth are but a shadow.

8:10  Will they not instruct you and speak to you, and bring forth words from their understanding?

8:11  Can the papyrus plant grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish without water?

8:12  While they are still beginning to flower and not ripe for cutting, they can wither away faster than any grass!

8:13  Such is the destiny of all who forget God; the hope of the godless perishes,

8:14  whose trust is in something futile, whose security is a spider's web.

8:15  He leans against his house but it does not hold up, he takes hold of it but it does not stand.

8:16  He is a well-watered plant in the sun, its shoots spread over its garden.

8:17  It wraps its roots around a heap of stones and it looks for a place among stones.

8:18  If he is uprooted from his place, then that place will disown him, saying, 'I have never seen you!'

8:19  Indeed, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth others spring up.

8:20  "Surely, God does not reject a blameless man, nor does he grasp the hand of the evildoers.

8:21  He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with gladness.

8:22  Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more."