Job 8

1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said:

And Bildad the Shuhite answers and says:

2 How long wilt thou speak such things? How long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?

“Until when do you speak these things? And a strong wind—sayings of your mouth?

3 Will God pervert judgment? Or will the Almighty pervert justice?

Does God pervert judgment? And does the Mighty One pervert justice?

4 As thy children sinned against him, He hath given them up to their transgression.

If your sons have sinned before Him, And He sends them away, By the hand of their transgression,

5 But if thou wilt seek early to God, And make thy supplication to the Almighty, —

If you seek for God early, And make supplication to the Mighty,

6 If thou wilt be pure and upright, Surely he will yet arise for thee, And prosper thy righteous habitation;

If you [are] pure and upright, Surely now He wakes for you, And has completed The habitation of your righteousness.

7 So that thy beginning shall be small, And thy latter end very great.

And your beginning has been small, And your latter end is very great.

8 For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, And mark what hath been searched out by their 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, Since our days upon the earth are but a shadow; )

For we [are] of yesterday, and we do not know, For our days [are] a shadow on earth.

10 Will not they instruct thee, and tell thee, And utter words from their understanding?

Do they not show you—speak to you, And from their heart bring forth words?

11 “Can the paper-reed grow up without mire? Can the bulrush grow without water?

Does a rush rise without a marsh? A reed increase without water?

12 While it is yet in its greenness, and is not cut down, It withereth before any other herb.

While it [is] in its budding—uncropped, Even before any herb it withers.

13 Such is the fate of all who forget God; So perisheth the hope of the ungodly.

So [are] the paths of all forgetting God, And the hope of the profane perishes,

14 His confidence shall come to nought, And his trust shall prove a spider's web.

Whose confidence is loathsome, And the house of a spider his trust.

15 He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand; He shall lay fast hold on it, but it shall not endure.

He leans on his house—and it does not stand, He takes hold on it—and it does not abide.

16 He is in full green before the sun, And his branches shoot forth over his garden;

He [is] green before the sun, And over his garden his branch goes out.

17 His roots are entwined about the heap, And he seeth the place of stones;

His roots are wrapped by a heap, He looks for a house of stones.

18 When he shall be destroyed from his place, It shall deny him, saying, 'I never saw thee.'

If [one] destroys him from his place, Then it has feigned concerning him, I have not seen you!

19 Lo! such is the joy of his course! And others shall spring up from his place”

Behold, this [is] the joy of His way, And from the dust others spring up.

20 Behold, God will not cast away an upright man; Nor will he help the evil-doers.

Behold, God does not reject the perfect, Nor takes hold on the hand of evildoers.

21 While he filleth thy mouth with laughter, And thy lips with gladness,

While He fills your mouth with laughter, And your lips with shouting,

22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame, And the dwelling-place of the wicked shall come to nought.

Those hating you put on shame, And the tent of the wicked is not!”