Job 8
1 And Bildad the Shuhite answereth and saith: —
The Baldad the Suhite 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, and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?
3 Doth God pervert judgment? And doth the Mighty One pervert justice?
Doth God pervert judgment, or doth the Almighty overthrow that which is just?
4 If thy sons have sinned before Him, And He doth send them away, By the hand of their transgression,
Although thy children have sinned against him, and he hath left them in the hand of their iniquity:
5 If thou dost seek early unto God, And unto the Mighty makest supplication,
Yet if thou wilt arise early to God, and wilt beseech the Almighty:
6 If pure and upright thou [art], Surely now He waketh for thee, And hath completed The habitation of thy righteousness.
If thou wilt walk clean and upright, he will presently awake onto thee, and will make the dwelling of thy justice peaceable:
7 And thy beginning hath been small, And thy latter end is very great.
Insomuch, that if thy former things were small, thy latter things would be multiplied exceedingly.
8 For, ask I pray thee of a former generation, And prepare to a search of their fathers,
For inquire of the former generation, and search diligently into the memory of the fathers:
9 (For of yesterday we [are], and we know not, For a shadow [are] our days on earth.)
(For we are but of yesterday, and are ignorant that our days upon earth are but a shadow: )
10 Do they not shew thee — speak to thee, And from their heart bring forth words?
And they shall teach thee: they shall speak to thee, and utter words out of their hearts.
11 'Doth a rush wise without mire? A reed increase without water?
Can the rush be green without moisture? or a sedge-bush grow without water?
12 While it [is] in its budding — uncropped, Even before any herb it withereth.
When it is yet in flower, and is not plucked up with the hand, it withereth before all herbs.
13 So [are] the paths of all forgetting God, And the hope of the profane doth perish,
Even so are the ways of all that forget God, and the hope of the hypocrite shall perish:
14 Whose confidence is loathsome, And the house of a spider his trust.
His folly shall not please him, and his trust shall be like the spider’s web.
15 He leaneth on his house — and it standeth not: He taketh hold on it — and it abideth not.
He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand: he shall prop it up, and it shall not rise:
16 Green he [is] before the sun, And over his garden his branch goeth out.
He seemeth to have moisture before the sun cometh, and at his rising his blossom shall shoot forth.
17 By a heap his roots are wrapped, A house of stones he looketh for.
His roots shall be thick upon a heap of stones, and among the stones he shall abide.
18 If [one] doth destroy him from his place, Then it hath feigned concerning him, I have not seen thee!
If one swallow him up out of his place, he shall deny him, and shall say: I know thee not.
19 Lo, this [is] the joy of his way, And from the dust others spring up.'
For this is the joy of his way, that others may spring again out of the earth.
20 Lo, God doth not reject the perfect, Nor taketh hold on the hand of evil doers.
God will not cast away the simple, nor reach out his hand to the evildoer:
21 While he filleth with laughter thy mouth, And thy lips with shouting,
Until thy mouth be filled with laughter, and thy lips with rejoicing.
22 Those hating thee do put on shame, And the tent of the wicked is not!
They that hate thee, shall be clothed with confusion: and the dwelling of the wicked shall not stand.
