Job 8

1 And Bildad the Shuhite answereth and saith: —

Then Baldad the Sauchite answered, and said,

2 Till when dost thou speak these things? And a strong wind — sayings of thy mouth?

How long wilt thou speak these things, [how long shall] the breath of thy mouth [be] abundant in words?

3 Doth God pervert judgment? And doth the Mighty One pervert justice?

Will the Lord be unjust when he judges; or will he that has made all things pervert justice?

4 If thy sons have sinned before Him, And He doth send them away, By the hand of their transgression,

If thy sons have sinned before him, he has cast them away because of their transgression.

5 If thou dost seek early unto God, And unto the Mighty makest supplication,

But be thou early in prayer to the Lord Almighty.

6 If pure and upright thou [art], Surely now He waketh for thee, And hath completed The habitation of thy righteousness.

If thou art pure and true, he will hearken to thy supplication, and will restore to thee the habitation of righteousness.

7 And thy beginning hath been small, And thy latter end is very great.

Though then thy beginning should be small, yet thy end should be unspeakably great.

8 For, ask I pray thee of a former generation, And prepare to a search of their fathers,

For ask of the former generation, and search diligently among the race of [our] fathers:

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

(for we are of yesterday, and know nothing; for our life upon the earth is a shadow: )

10 Do they not shew thee — speak to thee, And from their heart bring forth words?

shall not these teach thee, and report [to thee], and bring out words from [their] heart?

11 'Doth a rush wise without mire? A reed increase without water?

Does the rush flourish without water, or shall the flag grow up without moisture?

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

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?

13 So [are] the paths of all forgetting God, And the hope of the profane doth perish,

Thus then shall be the end of all that forget the Lord: for the hope of the ungodly shall perish.

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

For his house shall be without inhabitants, and his tent shall prove a spider's web.

15 He leaneth on his house — and it standeth not: He taketh hold on it — and it abideth not.

If he should prop up his house, it shall not stand: and when he has taken hold of it, it shall not remain.

16 Green he [is] before the sun, And over his garden his branch goeth out.

For it is moist under the sun, and his branch shall come forth out of his dung-heap.

17 By a heap his roots are wrapped, A house of stones he looketh for.

He lies down upon a gathering of stones, and shall live in the mist of flints.

18 If [one] doth destroy him from his place, Then it hath feigned concerning him, I have not seen thee!

If [God] should destroy [him], his place shall deny him. Hast thou not seen such things,

19 Lo, this [is] the joy of his way, And from the dust others spring up.'

that such is the overthrow of the ungodly? and out of the earth another shall grow.

20 Lo, God doth not reject the perfect, Nor taketh hold on the hand of evil doers.

For the Lord will by no means reject the harmless man; but he will not receive any gift of the ungodly.

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

But he will fill with laughter the mouth of the sincere, and their lips with thanksgiving.

22 Those hating thee do put on shame, And the tent of the wicked is not!

But their adversaries shall clothe themselves with shame; and the habitation of the ungodly shall perish.