Job 8 New American Standard Bible

Bildad Says God Rewards the Good

8 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,

²“How long will you say these things,
And the ^(A)words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
³Does ^(B)God pervert justice?
Or does ^[a]the Almighty pervert what is right?
⁴^(C)If your sons sinned against Him,
Then He turned them over to the ^[b]power of their wrongdoing.
⁵If you will ^(D)search for God
And implore the compassion of ^[c]the Almighty,
⁶If you are pure and upright,
Surely now ^(E)He will stir Himself for you
And restore your righteous ^[d]^(F)estate.
⁷Though your beginning was insignificant,
Yet your ^(G)end will increase greatly.

⁸“Please ^(H)inquire of past generations,
And consider the things searched out by their fathers.
⁹For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,
Because ^(I)our days on earth are as a shadow.
¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you,
And bring forth words from their minds?

¹¹“Can papyrus grow tall without a marsh?
Can the rushes grow without water?
¹²While it is still green and not cut down,
Yet it withers before any other ^[e]plant.
¹³So are the paths of ^(J)all who forget God;
And the ^(K)hope of the godless will perish,
¹⁴His confidence is fragile,
And his trust is a ^(L)spider’s ^[f]web.
¹⁵He depends on his ^(M)house, but it does not stand;
He holds on to it, but it does not endure.
¹⁶He ^(N)flourishes before the sun,
And his ^(O)shoots spread out over his garden.
¹⁷His roots wrap around a rock pile,
He ^[g]grasps a house of stones.
¹⁸If he is ^[h]removed from ^(P)his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, ‘^(Q)I never saw you.’
¹⁹Behold, ^(R)this is the joy of His way;
And out of the dust others will spring.
²⁰Behold, ^(S)God will not reject a person of integrity,
Nor ^(T)will He ^[i]help evildoers.
²¹He will yet fill ^(U)your mouth with laughter,
And your lips with joyful shouting.
²²Those who hate you will be ^(V)clothed with shame,
And the ^(W)tent of the wicked will no longer exist.”