Job 8
Common English Bible
Bildad defends God
8 Bildad from Shuah responded:
2 How long will you mouth such things
such that your utterances become a strong wind?
3 Does God pervert justice,
or does the Almighty distort what is right?
4 If your children sinned against him,
then he delivered them into the power of their rebellion.
5 If you will search eagerly for God,
plead with the Almighty.
6 If you are pure and do the right thing,
then surely he will become active on your behalf
and reward your innocent dwelling.
7 Although your former state was ordinary,
your future will be extraordinary.
Tradition
8 Ask a previous generation
and verify the findings of your ancestors,
9 for we are only recently here and don’t know
because our days on earth are a shadow.
10 Won’t they instruct you and tell you;
will words not[a] proceed from their hearts?
Examples from nature
11 Does papyrus grow apart from a marsh?
Does a reed flourish without water?
12 While still tender, uncut,
it will wither before every other grass.
13 So are the paths of all who forget God.
Hope perishes for the godless,
14 whose confidence is a fragile thing,[b]
their trust, a spider’s web.
15 He leans on its web, and it doesn’t stand;
grasps it, and it can’t remain in place.
16 It’s like a well-watered plant in the sun;
its runners spread over its gardens.
17 Its roots are entwined over a pile of rocks,
for it sees a home among stones.
18 If it’s uprooted from its place,
it lies, saying, “I can’t see you.”
19 Surely its way is a joy,
for from the dust other plants[c] sprout.
God’s faithfulness
20 Surely God won’t reject integrity,
won’t strengthen the hand of the wicked.
21 He will still fill your mouth with joy,
your lips with a victorious shout.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will vanish.
Job 8
King James Version
8 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 strong wind?
3 Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?
4 If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression;
5 If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, 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 Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.
8 For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:
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 his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.
13 So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish:
14 Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.
15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.
16 He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.
17 His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.
18 If he destroy him 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 grow.
20 Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers:
21 Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.
22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible