Job 8

CHAPTER 8

Bildad Claims God Rewards the Good

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,

²“How long will you say these things,

And the ^awords of your mouth be a mighty wind?

³“Does ^aGod pervert justice?

Or does ¹the Almighty pervert what is right?

⁴“^aIf your sons sinned against Him,

Then He sent them into the ¹power of their transgression.

⁵“If you would ^aseek God earnestly

And plead for the grace of ¹the Almighty,

⁶If you are pure and upright,

Indeed now ^aHe would rouse Himself for you

And make your righteous ^babode at peace.

⁷“Though your beginning was insignificant,

Yet your ^aend will increase greatly.

⁸“Please ^aask of past generations,

And establish the things searched out by their fathers.

⁹“For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,

Because ^aour days on earth are but a shadow.

¹⁰“Will they not instruct you and tell you,

And bring forth words from their hearts?

¹¹“Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?

Can the rushes grow without water?

¹²“While it is still green and not cut down,

Yet it dries up before any other ¹plant.

¹³“So are the paths of ^aall who forget God;

And the ^bhope of the godless will perish,

¹⁴Whose confidence is fragile,

And whose trust a ^aspider’s ¹web.

¹⁵“He relies on his ^ahouse, but it does not stand;

He holds fast to it, but it is not established.

¹⁶“He ^1athrives before the sun,

And his ^bshoots go forth over his garden.

¹⁷“His roots wrap around a rock pile;

He looks upon a house of stones.

¹⁸“If He swallows him up from ^ahis place,

Then it will deny him, saying, ‘^bI never saw you.’

¹⁹“Behold, ^athis is the joy of ¹His way;

And out of the dust others will spring.

²⁰“Behold, ^aGod will not reject a blameless man,

Nor ^bwill He strengthen the hand of the evildoers.

²¹“He will yet fill ^ayour mouth with laughter

And your lips with shouting.

²²“Those who hate you will be ^aclothed with shame,

And the ^btent of the wicked will be no longer.”