Job 8
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said,
2 How long wilt thou speak these things? and [how long] shall the words of thy mouth be [like] a mighty wind?
“How much longer will you go on talking like this? The words coming out of your mouth are a lot of hot air!
3 Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?
Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
4 If thy children have sinned against him, and he have delivered them into the hand of their transgression:
Your children must have sinned against him, and so they deserved the punishment he inflicted on them.
5 If thou wouldest seek diligently unto God, and make thy supplication to the Almighty;
But if you pray to God and ask for his help,
6 If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
if you live a clean life and do what is right, then he would act to make things right for you in your home.
7 And though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.
Though you began with next to nothing, you will end up with so much!
8 For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched out:
Why don't you ask what previous generations discovered, examine what our ancestors found out? We were born yesterday and don't know anything!
9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow: )
Our days on earth fade as quickly as a passing shadow.
10 Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?
Won't they teach you and explain what they know?
11 Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?
Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds grow without water?
12 Whilst it is yet in its greenness, [and] not cut down, it withereth before any [other] herb.
Even without being cut, while they are still flowering, they wither faster than grass.
13 So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hope of the godless man shall perish:
This is what happens to everyone who forgets God. The hopes of those who live without God come to nothing.
14 Whose confidence shall break in sunder, and whose trust is a spider’s web.
Their confidence is like holding on to a flimsy spider's web.
15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure.
They look to their home to provide security, but it provides no support. They try to hang onto it, but it doesn't last.
16 He is green before the sun, and his shoots go forth over his garden.
Those who live without God are like a luxuriant plant growing in the sun, spreading its shoots all over the garden.
17 His roots are wrapped about the heap, he beholdeth the place of stones.
It twists its roots down through the stones, and holds on to rock.
18 If he be destroyed from his place, then it shall deny him, [saying], I have not seen thee.
But when it's cut down, the place where it was disowns it, saying, ‘I never even saw you.’
19 Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others spring.
Its life is over, and others spring up from the earth to take its place.
20 Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he uphold the evil-doers.
Look, God doesn't reject someone who is innocent, and he doesn't support those who are guilty.
21 He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter, and thy lips with shouting.
He can make you laugh with happiness again and shout for joy.
22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the tent of the wicked shall be no more.
Those who hate you will be put to shame, and the place where the wicked live will be destroyed.”
