Job 8

1 And Bildad the Shuhite answereth and saith: —

Then Bildad, from [the] Shuah [area], spoke to Job. He said,

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

“Job, how much longer will you talk like this? What you say is [only] hot air.

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

Almighty God certainly never does [RHQ] what is unfair/unjust. He always does [LIT] what is right/fair.

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

So, it is evident that your children have sinned against him, therefore he has caused them to be punished for evil things that they have done.

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

But, if you will [now] earnestly request [DOU] Almighty [God] to help you,

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

and if you are pure and honest/righteous, he will surely do something good for you and reward you by giving your family back to you and enabling you to prosper.

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

And even though you [think that you] were not very prosperous/wealthy before, during the last part of your life you will become very wealthy.

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

“I request you to think about what happened long ago and consider what our ancestors found out.

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

[It seems as though] we were born only yesterday and we know very little [HYP]; our time here on the earth [disappears quickly, like] a shadow [MET].

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

So, why do you not allow your ancestors to teach you and tell you something? Allow them to tell you from what they learned!

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

Papyrus can certainly not [RHQ] grow in places where there is no marsh/swamp; reeds certainly cannot [RHQ] flourish/grow where there is no water.

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

[If they do not have enough water], while they are still blossoming, they wither more quickly than other plants wither.

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

Those who do not pay attention to what God says are like those [reeds]; godless people stop confidently expecting [that good things will happen to them].

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

The things they confidently expect to happen do not happen; things they trust [will help them] are [as fragile as] [MET] a spider’s web.

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

If they lean against a house (OR, trust in their wealth; OR, lean on a spider web), it does not (endure/protect them) [LIT]; they cling to things [to be protected], but those things do not remain firm.

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

Godless people [are like plants] [MET] that are watered before the sun rises; their shoots spread all over the gardens.

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

The roots of those plants twist around piles of stones and cling tightly to rocks.

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

But if those plants are pulled out, [it is as though] the place where they were planted says ‘They were never here!’ [And that is what happens to wicked people who do not heed what God says].

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

Truly, evil people [MET] are not joyful [IRO] for a long time; other people come and take their places.

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

:So, [I tell you, Job], God will not reject you if you are truly godly/righteous, but he does not help [IDM] evil people.

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

He will enable you [MTY] to continually laugh and to always shout [joyfully].

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

But those who hate you will be very ashamed, and the homes of wicked people will disappear.”