Bildad Claims God Rewards the Good

1Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,

2“How long will you say these things,

And the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?

3Does God pervert justice?

Or does [†]the Almighty pervert what is right?

4If your sons sinned against Him,

Then He sent them into the [†]power of their transgression.

5If you would seek God earnestly

And plead for the grace of [†]the Almighty,

6If you are pure and upright,

Indeed now He would rouse Himself for you

And make your righteous abode at peace.

7Though your beginning was insignificant,

Yet your end will increase greatly.

8“Please ask of past generations,

And establish the things searched out by their fathers.

9For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,

Because our days on earth are but a shadow.

10Will they not instruct you and tell you,

And bring forth words from their hearts?

11“Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?

Can the rushes grow without water?

12While it is still green and not cut down,

Yet it dries up before any other [†]plant.

13So are the paths of all who forget God;

And the hope of the godless will perish,

14Whose confidence is fragile,

And whose trust a spider’s [†]web.

15He relies on his house, but it does not stand;

He holds fast to it, but it is not established.

16He [†]thrives before the sun,

And his shoots go forth over his garden.

17His roots wrap around a rock pile;

He looks upon a house of stones.

18If He swallows him up from his place,

Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’

19Behold, this is the joy of [†]His way;

And out of the dust others will spring.

20Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,

Nor will He strengthen the hand of the evildoers.

21He will yet fill your mouth with laughter

And your lips with shouting.

22Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,

And the tent of the wicked will be no longer.”