Bildad speaks to Job
1Bildad from the land of Shuah started speaking. He said to Job:
2‘How long will you keep on
saying these things?
Your words are just like the wind.
They are worthless.
3The Almighty God always
does what is right.
4If your children have sinned_against Him,
He would punish them
for what they have done.
5You must ask the Almighty God
to help you and to be gracious to you.
6If you really are innocent and honest,
then He will listen to you and
He will give you back everything
that you should have.
7When you started long ago,
you had only a little,
but you will get a lot, and you will succeed.
8Ask people who are older than you
what their forefathers were like.
9We were born only a short while ago,
and we know nothing.
Our lives on earth will soon pass,
like a shadow.
10The older people will teach you,
and they will tell you what they know.
11Reeds grow only in wet ground,
where there is water.
12If there is no water,
the reeds will dry before the grass.
They dry before they can grow tall
and someone cuts them off.
13This is what happens to a person
who forgets about God.
There is no hope for a person
who does not want to serve God.
14He is like someone who thinks
that a spider's web is
strong enough for his own home.
15If he leans against that house,
the spider's web breaks.
If he wants to hold onto it, it is not there.
16He is like a young plant in the sun.
The plant's leaves hang over the garden,
17and its roots grow in
between the stones and rocks.
18But if someone pulls out the plant,
people say: “We have never seen that plant before.”
19He had little that made him happy
before his end came,
and other plants will grow out of the ground.
20You must know that God
will not leave someone
who has done everything right,
and He will not help someone who is bad.
21He will make you happy again.
He will make you sing and rejoice.
22Your enemies will be ashamed.
The homes of the people who do wrong
will be destroyed.’
