1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2 "How long wilt thou talk of such things? How long shall thy mouth speak so proud words?
3 Doth God pervert the thing that is lawful? Or, doth the Almighty destroy the thing that is right?
4 When thy sons sinned against him, did not he punish them for their wickedness?
5 If thou wouldest now resort unto God betimes, and make thy humble prayer to the Almighty;
6 If thou wouldest live a pure and godly life; should he not wake up unto thee immediately, and give thee the beauty of righteousness again?
7 Insomuch, that wherein soever thou hadst little afore, thou shouldest now have great abundance.
8 "Enquire, I pray thee, of them that have been before thee; and search diligently among thy forefathers.
9 For we are but of yesterday, and consider not that our days upon earth are but a very shadow.
10 They shall show thee, they shall tell thee, yea they will gladly confess the same.
11 May a rush be green without moisture, or may the grass grow without water?
12 No: but before it be shot forth, and before it be gathered, it withereth; before any other herb.
13 Even so goeth it with all them that forget God: and even thus also shall the hypocrite's hope come to naught.
14 His confidence shall be destroyed, for he trusteth in a spider's web.
15 He leaneth him upon his house, but he shall not stand; he holdeth him fast by it, yet shall he not endure.
16 "Oftentimes, a thing doth flourish, and men think that it may abide the sunshine. It shooteth forth the branches in its garden,
17 and it taketh many roots: insomuch that it is like a house of stone.
18 But if it be taken out of its place, every man denieth it, saying, 'I know thee not.'
19 Lo, thus is it with him that rejoiceth in his own doings: and as for others, they grow out of the earth.
20 "Behold, God will not cast away a virtuous man, neither will he help the ungodly.
21 Thy mouth shall be full with laughing, and thy lips with gladness.
22 They that hate thee, shall be confounded, and the dwellings of the ungodly shall come to naught."