Job 8

Bildad Calls Out Job

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up.

2 “How long are you going to talk like this, Your words are like a strong wind blowing nonsense.

3 Does God twist justice, Does the Almighty mess up what is right,

4 If your kids sinned against Him, He gave them over to the penalty their sin deserved.

5 But if you will seek God and plead with the Almighty,

6 If you are pure and upright, surely He will wake up for you and restore you to where you belong.

7 Your beginnings might have been small, but your future will be way greater.

Look at History

8 Ask the former generations; pay attention to what their fathers learned.

9 We were born yesterday and know nothing; our days are just a shadow on the earth.

10 Will they not teach you, speak to you, and give you words from their heart,

The Fate of the Godless

11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh, Can reeds thrive without water,

12 While still green and uncut, they wither quicker than grass.

13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; the hope of the godless will perish.

14 Their confidence is fragile; their trust is like a spider’s web.

15 They lean on their house, but it does not stand; they hold it tight, but it collapses.

16 They are like a plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden.

17 Its roots wrap around a pile of rocks, looking for a place among the stones.

18 But if it is torn from its spot, that place will deny it: ‘I have never seen you.’

19 That is how its life ends, and others spring up from the same soil.

God Restores the Blameless

20 Surely God does not reject the blameless or strengthen the hands of evildoers.

21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”