BILDAD SPEAKS

8 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

2 How long will you go on saying these things?

Your wordsl are a blast of wind.m

3 Does God pervert justice?n

Does the Almighty pervert what is right?o

4 Since your children sinned against him,

he gave them over to their rebellion.

5 But if you earnestly seekp God

and ask the Almighty for mercy,q

6 if you are pure and upright,

then he will move even now on your behalf

and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.r

7 Then, even if your beginnings were modest,

your final days will be full of prosperity.s

8 For ask the previous generation,

and pay attention to what their ancestors discovered,t

9 since we were born only yesterday and know nothing.

Our days on earth are but a shadow.u

10 Will they not teach you and tell you

and speak from their understanding?

11 Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh?

Do reeds flourish without water?

12 While still uncut shoots,

they would dry up quicker than any other plant.

13 Such is the destinyG of all who forget God;

the hope of the godlessv will perish.

14 His source of confidence is fragile;H

what he trusts in is a spider’s web.w

15 He leans on his web, but it doesn’t stand firm.

He grabs it, but it does not hold up.

16 He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine;

his shoots spread out over his garden.

17 His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks.

He looks for a home among the stones.

18 If he is uprootedI from his place,

it will deny knowing him, saying, “I never saw you.”x

19 Surely this is the joy of his way of life;

yet others will sprout from the dust.

20 Look, God does not reject a person of integrity,

and he will not supportJ evildoers.y

21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter

and your lips with a shout of joy.z

22 Your enemies will be clothed with shame;aa

the tentab of the wicked will no longer exist.