Job 8

Chapter 8

Bildad Says God Rewards the Good

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite ¹answered,

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 delivered them into the ¹power of their transgression.

⁵“If you would ^aseek God

And implore the compassion of ¹the Almighty,

⁶If you are pure and upright,

Surely now ^aHe would rouse Himself for you

And restore your righteous ^1bestate.

⁷“Though your beginning was insignificant,

Yet your ^aend will increase greatly.

⁸“Please ^ainquire of past generations,

And consider the things searched out by their fathers.

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

Because ^aour days on earth are as a shadow.

¹⁰“Will they not teach you and tell you,

And bring forth words from their minds?

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 withers 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 ¹trusts in his ^ahouse, but it does not stand;

He holds fast to it, but it does not endure.

¹⁶“He ^1athrives before the sun,

And his ^bshoots spread out over his garden.

¹⁷“His roots wrap around a rock pile,

He ¹grasps a house of stones.

¹⁸“If he is ¹removed from ^ahis place,

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

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

And out of the dust others will spring.

²⁰“Lo, ^aGod will not reject a man of integrity,

Nor ^bwill He ¹support 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.”