| 1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied: |
| 2 "How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind. |
| 3 Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? |
| 4 When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin. |
| 5 But if you will look to God and plead with the Almighty, |
| 6 if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your rightful place. |
| 7 Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be. |
| 8 "Ask the former generations and find out what their fathers learned, |
| 9 for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow. |
| 10 Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding? |
| 11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water? |
| 12 While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass. |
| 13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless. |
| 14 What he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spider's web. |
| 15 He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold. |
| 16 He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden; |
| 17 it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones. |
| 18 But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, 'I never saw you.' |
| 19 Surely its life withers away, and from the soil other plants grow. |
| 20 "Surely God does not reject a blameless man or strengthen the hands of evildoers. |
| 21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. |
| 22 Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tents of the wicked will be no more." |
