Job 8
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Bildad Speaks
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 How long will you go on saying these things?
Your words(A) are a blast of wind.(B)
3 Does God pervert justice?(C)
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?(D)
4 Since your children sinned against Him,
He gave them over to their rebellion.
5 But if you earnestly seek(E) God
and ask the Almighty for mercy,(F)
6 if you are pure and upright,
then He will move even now on your behalf
and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.(G)
7 Then, even if your beginnings were modest,
your final days will be full of prosperity.(H)
8 For ask the previous generation,
and pay attention to what their fathers discovered,(I)
9 since we were born only yesterday and know nothing.
Our days on earth are but a shadow.(J)
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and speak from their understanding?
11 Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Do reeds flourish without water?
12 While still uncut shoots,
they would dry up quicker than any other plant.
13 Such is the destiny[a] of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless(K) will perish.
14 His source of confidence is fragile;[b]
what he trusts in is a spider’s web.(L)
15 He leans on his web, but it doesn’t stand firm.
He grabs it, but it does not hold up.
16 He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine;
his shoots spread out over his garden.
17 His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks.
He looks for a home among the stones.
18 If he is uprooted[c] from his place,
it will deny knowing him, saying, “I never saw you.”(M)
19 Surely this is the joy of his way of life;
yet others will sprout from the dust.
20 Look, God does not reject a person of integrity,
and He will not support evildoers.(N)
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a shout of joy.(O)
22 Your enemies will be clothed with shame;(P)
the tent(Q) of the wicked will exist no longer.
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.
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