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Bildad's First Response to Job
Chapter 8
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Then Bildad the Shuhite replied to Job:
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"How long will you go on like this?
You sound like a blustering wind.
- Does God twist justice?
Does the Almighty twist what is right?
- Your children must have sinned against him,
so their punishment was well deserved.
- But if you pray to God
and seek the favor of the Almighty,
- and if you are pure and live with integrity,
he will surely rise up and restore your happy home.
- And though you started with little,
you will end with much.
- "Just ask the previous generation.
Pay attention to the experience of our ancestors.
- For we were born but yesterday and know nothing.
Our days on earth are as fleeting as a shadow.
- But those who came before us will teach you.
They will teach you the wisdom of old.
- "Can papyrus reeds grow tall without a marsh?
Can marsh grass flourish without water?
- While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut,
they begin to wither more quickly than grass.
- The same happens to all who forget God.
The hopes of the godless evaporate.
- Their confidence hangs by a thread.
They are leaning on a spider's web.
- They cling to their home for security, but it won't last.
They try to hold it tight, but it will not endure.
- The godless seem like a lush plant growing in the sunshine,
its branches spreading across the garden.
- Its roots grow down through a pile of stones;
it takes hold on a bed of rocks.
- But when it is uprooted,
it's as though it never existed!
- That's the end of its life,
and others spring up from the earth to replace it.
- "But look, God will not reject a person of integrity,
nor will he lend a hand to the wicked.
- He will once again fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.
- Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the home of the wicked will be destroyed."