1 A nd Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,

2 H ow long wilt thou speak these things? and the words of thy mouth be a strong wind?

3 D oth God pervert judgment, and the Almighty pervert justice?

4 I f thy children have sinned against him, he hath also given them over into the hand of their transgression.

5 I f thou seek earnestly unto God, and make thy supplication to the Almighty,

6 I f thou be pure and upright, surely now he will awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous;

7 A nd though thy beginning was small, yet thine end shall be very great.

8 F or inquire, I pray thee, of the former generation, and attend to the researches of their fathers;

9 F or we are of yesterday, and know nothing, for our days upon earth are a shadow.

10 S hall not they teach thee, tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?

11 D oth the papyrus shoot up without mire? doth the reed-grass grow without water?

12 W hilst it is yet in its greenness not cut down, it withereth before any grass.

13 S o are the paths of all that forget God; and the profane man's hope shall perish,

14 W hose confidence shall be cut off, and his reliance is a spider's web.

15 H e shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand; he shall lay hold on it, but it shall not endure.

16 H e is full of sap before the sun, and his sprout shooteth forth over his garden;

17 H is roots are entwined about the stoneheap; he seeth the place of stones.

18 I f he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him: I have not seen thee!

19 B ehold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the dust shall others grow.

20 B ehold, God will not cast off a perfect man, neither will he take evil-doers by the hand.

21 W hilst he would fill thy mouth with laughing and thy lips with shouting,

22 T hey that hate thee shall be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked be no more.