Job 8

Bildad Speaks: Job Should Repent

1 Then ^aBildad the Shuhite answered and said:

2 “How long will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a ^bgreat wind?
3 ^cDoes God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
4 If your ^dchildren have sinned against him,
he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
5 If you will seek God
and ^eplead with the Almighty for mercy,
6 if you are pure and upright,
surely then he will ^frouse himself for you
and ^grestore your rightful habitation.
7 And though your beginning was small,
^hyour latter days will be very great.
8 “For ⁱinquire, please, of bygone ages,
and consider what ^jthe fathers have searched out.
9 For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,
for our days on earth are ^ka shadow.
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and utter words out of their understanding?
11 “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
12 While yet in flower and not cut down,
they ^lwither before any other plant.
13 Such are the paths of all who ^mforget God;
ⁿthe hope of ^othe godless shall perish.
14 His confidence is severed,
and his trust is ^pa spider’s web. ^{▼▼Hebrew house}
15 He leans against his ^rhouse, but it does not stand;
he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.
16 He is a lush plant before the sun,
and his ^sshoots spread over his garden.
17 His roots entwine the stone heap;
he looks upon a house of stones.
18 If he is destroyed from his ^tplace,
then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never ^useen you.’
19 Behold, this is the joy of his way,
and out of ^vthe soil others will spring.
20 “Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,
nor take the hand of evildoers.
21 He will yet ^wfill your mouth with laughter,
and your lips with shouting.
22 Those who hate you will be ^xclothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”