[1] Then Bildad from Shuah replied to Job, [2] "How long will you say these things? How long will your words be so windy? [3] Does God distort justice, or does the Almighty distort righteousness? [4] If your children sinned against him, he allowed them to suffer the consequences of their sinfulness. [5] If you search for God and plead for mercy from the Almighty, [6] if you are moral and ethical, then he will rise up on your behalf and prove your righteousness by rebuilding your home. [7] Then what you had in the past will seem small compared with the great prosperity you'll have in the future. [8] "Ask the people of past generations. Find out what their ancestors had learned. [9] We have only been around since yesterday, and we know nothing. Our days on earth are only a fleeting shadow. [10] Won't their words teach you? Won't they share their thoughts with you? [11] "Can papyrus grow up where there is no swamp? Can rushes grow tall without water? [12] Even if they were fresh and not cut, they would wither quicker than grass. [13] The same thing happens to all who forget God. The hope of the godless dies. [14] His confidence is easily shattered. His trust is a spider's web. [15] If one leans on his house, it collapses. If one holds on to it, it will not support his weight. [16] He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine. The shoots spread over his garden. [17] Its roots weave through a pile of stones. They cling to a stone house. [18] But when it is uprooted from its place, the ground denies it and says, 'I never saw you!' [19] That is its joy in this life, and others sprout from the same ground to take its place. [20] "Certainly, God does not reject a person of integrity or give a helping hand to wicked people. [21] He will fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with happy shouting. [22] Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will cease to exist."
