Job 8

Job’s friend Bildad speaks to him ^{▼▼8:0 Now Bildad tells Job that God is powerful. And he says that God is always fair. So if Job lives the right way, his life will soon be better. In chapters 9 and 10, Job will answer Bildad. Job knows that God is powerful. He knows that God is wise. He knows that God is fair. But that does not help him. He still does not understand why bad things have happened. And he cannot hope that his future life will be any better.}

1 Job’s friend Bildad lived in a place called Shuah.

He spoke to Job. And this is what he said.

2 ‘You should not continue to say such things.

Your words are like the wind.

3 Surely you know that God is fair.

The Almighty does not change something that is right. He will not make it wrong.

4 Your children did things that were wrong.

Because of the things that they did, God punished them.

5 But you should pray to God

and you should ask the Almighty to help you.

6 If you are honest, God will listen to you.

You may have lived the right way.

Then he will hear you when you speak to him.

And he will give back to you the things that you have lost.

7 You will be very rich.

God will give you much more than you had before.

8 People who lived before us knew many things.

Try to discover what they learned.

9 Our lives are like shadows that pass in a moment.

They are so short that we learn nothing.

10 But the people who lived before us can teach us.

Listen to what they said. Then you will learn from them.

11 You know that some trees only grow tall in wet ground.

And plants can only live if they have water.

12 They may still be growing and they may not be ready for somebody to cut them.

But if they have no water, they will soon die.

13 People who forget about God are like those plants.

They cannot hope to live. They, too, will die before they are old.

14 They believe in something that is weak.

It is as weak as a spider‘s web.

15 A man like that trusts his family and his things, but they are not strong.

He holds all his things as well as he can. But in the end, they will leave him.’

16 ‘Bad people are like weeds when there is plenty of water.

The weeds grow all over the garden.

17 Their roots grow round stones

and they find space between rocks.

18 But in the end, someone will dig the ground and destroy the weeds.

Then no one will remember that they had been there.

19 So the weeds die.

But other plants will grow in the ground where they had been.

20 God will not refuse to help an honest man.

Nor will he hurry to help a bad man.

21 He will make you happy.

And you will have reasons to laugh again. And you will smile again, too.

22 Your enemies will be ashamed of what they have done.

And they will even lose their homes.’