Job 8
1 And Bildad the Shuhite answers and says:
But Baldad the Suhite, responding, said:
2 “Until when do you speak these things? And a strong wind—sayings of your mouth?
How long will you speak this way, so that the words of your mouth are like a changeable wind?
3 Does God pervert judgment? And does the Mighty One pervert justice?
Does God supplant judgment, or does the Almighty subvert that which is just?
4 If your sons have sinned before Him, And He sends them away, By the hand of their transgression,
And if now your children have sinned against him, and he has dismissed them into the power of their iniquity,
5 If you seek for God early, And make supplication to the Mighty,
even so, you should arise early to God, so as to beseech the Almighty.
6 If you [are] pure and upright, Surely now He wakes for you, And has completed The habitation of your righteousness.
If you approach with purity and honesty, he will quickly be attentive to you, and a peaceful life will repay your righteousness,
7 And your beginning has been small, And your latter end is very great.
so much so that, if your former things were small, your latter things would be multiplied greatly.
8 For inquire, please, of a former generation, And prepare for a search of their fathers,
For inquire of the earliest generation, and investigate diligently the history of the fathers,
9 For we [are] of yesterday, and we do not know, For our days [are] a shadow on earth.
(of course, we are but of yesterday and are ignorant that our days on earth are like a shadow, )
10 Do they not show you—speak to you, And from their heart bring forth words?
and they will teach you; they will speak with you and will offer you the eloquence of their hearts.
11 Does a rush rise without a marsh? A reed increase without water?
Can the marsh plant live without moisture? Or can sedges grow without water?
12 While it [is] in its budding—uncropped, Even before any herb it withers.
When it is still in flower, and has not been pulled up by hand, it withers before all other plants.
13 So [are] the paths of all forgetting God, And the hope of the profane perishes,
Just so are the ways of all who forget God, and the hope of the hypocrite will perish.
14 Whose confidence is loathsome, And the house of a spider his trust.
His frenzy will not please him, and his faith will be like a spider’s web.
15 He leans on his house—and it does not stand, He takes hold on it—and it does not abide.
He will lean on his house, and it will not stand; he will prop it up, but it will not rise.
16 He [is] green before the sun, And over his garden his branch goes out.
He seems to have moisture before the sun arrives; and at sunrise, his sprout shoots forth.
17 His roots are wrapped by a heap, He looks for a house of stones.
His roots will crowd together over a heap of stones, and among the stones he will remain.
18 If [one] destroys him from his place, Then it has feigned concerning him, I have not seen you!
If someone is devoured right beside him, he will deny him and will say: “I do not know you.”
19 Behold, this [is] the joy of His way, And from the dust others spring up.
For this is the benefit of his way, that others in turn may spring up from the earth.
20 Behold, God does not reject the perfect, Nor takes hold on the hand of evildoers.
God will not discard the simple, nor will he extend his hand to the spiteful,
21 While He fills your mouth with laughter, And your lips with shouting,
even until your mouth is filled with laughter and your lips with rejoicing.
22 Those hating you put on shame, And the tent of the wicked is not!”
Those who hate you, will be clothed with confusion, and the tabernacle of the impious will not continue.
