Job 8

Bildad’s First Response to Job

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied to Job:

²“How long will you go on like this?

You sound like a blustering wind.

³Does God twist justice?

Does the Almighty twist what is right?

⁴Your children must have sinned against him,

so their punishment was well deserved.

⁵But if you pray to God

and seek the favor of the Almighty,

⁶and if you are pure and live with integrity,

he will surely rise up and restore your happy home.

⁷And though you started with little,

you will end with much.

⁸“Just ask the previous generation.

Pay attention to the experience of our ancestors.

⁹For we were born but yesterday and know nothing.

Our days on earth are as fleeting as a shadow.

¹⁰But those who came before us will teach you.

They will teach you the wisdom of old.

¹¹“Can papyrus reeds grow tall without a marsh?

Can marsh grass flourish without water?

¹²While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut,

they begin to wither more quickly than grass.

¹³The same happens to all who forget God.

The hopes of the godless evaporate.

¹⁴Their confidence hangs by a thread.

They are leaning on a spider’s web.

¹⁵They cling to their home for security, but it won’t last.

They try to hold it tight, but it will not endure.

¹⁶The godless seem like a lush plant growing in the sunshine,

its branches spreading across the garden.

¹⁷Its roots grow down through a pile of stones;

it takes hold on a bed of rocks.

¹⁸But when it is uprooted,

it’s as though it never existed!

¹⁹That’s the end of its life,

and others spring up from the earth to replace it.

²⁰“But look, God will not reject a person of integrity,

nor will he lend a hand to the wicked.

²¹He will once again fill your mouth with laughter

and your lips with shouts of joy.

²²Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,

and the home of the wicked will be destroyed.”