1 | Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, |
2 | How long wilt thou speak these things? And [how long] shall the words of thy mouth be [like] a mighty wind? |
3 | Doth God pervert justice? Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness? |
4 | If thy children have sinned against him, And he hath delivered them into the hand of their transgression; |
5 | If thou wouldest seek diligently unto God, And make thy supplication to the Almighty; |
6 | If thou wert pure and upright: Surely now he would awake for thee, And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. |
7 | And though thy beginning was small, Yet thy latter end would greatly increase. |
8 | For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, And apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched out: |
9 | (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days upon earth are a shadow); |
10 | Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, And utter words out of their heart? |
11 | Can the rush grow up without mire? Can the flag grow without water? |
12 | Whilst it is yet in its greenness, [and] not cut down, It withereth before any [other] herb. |
13 | So are the paths of all that forget God; And the hope of the godless man shall perish: |
14 | Whose confidence shall break in sunder, And whose trust is a spider`s web. |
15 | He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: He shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure. |
16 | He is green before the sun, And his shoots go forth over his garden. |
17 | His roots are wrapped about the [stone] -heap, He beholdeth the place of stones. |
18 | If he be destroyed from his place, Then it shall deny him, [saying], I have not seen thee. |
19 | Behold, this is the joy of his way; And out of the earth shall others spring. |
20 | Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, Neither will he uphold the evil-doers. |
21 | He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter, And thy lips with shouting. |
22 | They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; And the tent of the wicked shall be no more. |