Round One: Bildad’s Speech
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded:
2 How long will you say such things?
How long will the words of your mouth be like a blustery wind?
3 Does God pervert justice?
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
4 When your children sinned against him,
he handed them over to the consequences of their rebellion.
5 But if you will eagerly seek God
and plead for compassion from the Almighty,
6 if you are pure and upright,
then even now he will rouse himself on your behalf,
and he will restore your rightful dwelling place.
7 Then, though your beginnings were small,
your final days will be very great!
8 Yes, ask the previous generations,
and consider the discoveries of their fathers,
9 because we were born only yesterday and know nothing.
Our days on earth are nothing but a shadow.
10 Aren’t our ancestors the ones who should teach you and inform you,
the ones who brought forth words from their hearts?
11 Does papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
Do reeds thrive where there is no water?
12 While they are still growing and uncut,
they can wither faster than any other plant.
13 This is the way it will be for all those who forget God.
The hope of the godless man perishes.
14 His source of confidence is fragile.
He trusts in something as fragile as a spider’s web.
15 He leans on his web, but it does not support him.
He grasps it, but it does not hold him up.
16 He is a thriving plant flourishing in the sunshine,
spreading its shoots over the garden.
17 It wraps its roots around a heap of rocks.
It finds a home among the stones.
18 But if it is uprooted from its place,
that place disowns it, saying, “I have never seen you!”
19 Yes, the only good thing that comes from this situation is that
from the dust another plant sprouts.[a]
20 Certainly God does not reject a blameless man
or strengthen the hand of evildoers.
21 He will again fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a joyful shout.
22 Your enemies will be clothed with shame,
and the tents of the wicked will be no more.
Footnotes
- Job 8:19 The line is difficult.