< Job 8 >
1 Then Baldad the Sauchite answered, and said,
And Bildad the Shuhite answers and says:
2 How long will you speak these things, [how long shall] the breath of your mouth [be] abundant in words?
“Until when do you speak these things? And a strong wind—sayings of your mouth?
3 Will the Lord be unjust when he judges; or will he that has made all things pervert justice?
Does God pervert judgment? And does the Mighty One pervert justice?
4 If your sons have sinned before him, he has cast them away because of their transgression.
If your sons have sinned before Him, And He sends them away, By the hand of their transgression,
5 But be you early in prayer to the Lord Almighty.
If you seek for God early, And make supplication to the Mighty,
6 If you are pure and true, he will listen to your supplication, and will restore to you the habitation of righteousness.
If you [are] pure and upright, Surely now He wakes for you, And has completed The habitation of your righteousness.
7 Though then your beginning should be small, yet your end should be unspeakably great.
And your beginning has been small, And your latter end is very great.
8 For ask of the former generation, and search diligently amongst the race of [our] fathers:
For inquire, please, of a former generation, And prepare for a search of their fathers,
9 (for we are of yesterday, and know nothing; for our life upon the earth is a shadow: )
For we [are] of yesterday, and we do not know, For our days [are] a shadow on earth.
10 shall not these teach you, and report [to you], and bring out words from [their] heart?
Do they not show you—speak to you, And from their heart bring forth words?
11 Does the rush flourish without water, or shall the flag grow up without moisture?
Does a rush rise without a marsh? A reed increase without water?
12 When it is yet on the root, and [though] it has not been cut down, does not any herb wither before it has received moisture?
While it [is] in its budding—uncropped, Even before any herb it withers.
13 Thus then shall be the end of all that forget the Lord: for the hope of the ungodly shall perish.
So [are] the paths of all forgetting God, And the hope of the profane perishes,
14 For his house shall be without inhabitants, and his tent shall prove a spider's web.
Whose confidence is loathsome, And the house of a spider his trust.
15 If he should prop up his house, it shall not stand: and when he has taken hold of it, it shall not remain.
He leans on his house—and it does not stand, He takes hold on it—and it does not abide.
16 For it is moist under the sun, and his branch shall come forth out of his dung-heap.
He [is] green before the sun, And over his garden his branch goes out.
17 He lies down upon a gathering of stones, and shall live in the mist of flints.
His roots are wrapped by a heap, He looks for a house of stones.
18 If [God] should destroy [him], his place shall deny him. Hast you not seen such things,
If [one] destroys him from his place, Then it has feigned concerning him, I have not seen you!
19 that such is the overthrow of the ungodly? and out of the earth another shall grow.
Behold, this [is] the joy of His way, And from the dust others spring up.
20 For the Lord will by no means reject the harmless man; but he will not receive any gift of the ungodly.
Behold, God does not reject the perfect, Nor takes hold on the hand of evildoers.
21 But he will fill with laughter the mouth of the sincere, and their lips with thanksgiving.
While He fills your mouth with laughter, And your lips with shouting,
22 But their adversaries shall clothe themselves with shame; and the habitation of the ungodly shall perish.
Those hating you put on shame, And the tent of the wicked is not!”