[1] Then Bildad from Shuah answered: [2] "How long will you talk like that? Your words are nothing but hot air! [3] God is always fair. God All-Powerful does what is right. [4] If your children sinned against God, he punished them. They paid for their sins. [5] But now, look to God and pray to the All-Powerful. [6] If you are pure and good, he will quickly come to help you. He will give your family back to you. [7] Then you will have a lot more than you had in the beginning! [8] "Ask those who are now old. Find out what their ancestors learned. [9] It seems as though we were born yesterday. We are too young to know anything. Our days on earth are very short, like a shadow. [10] Maybe the old people can tell you something. Maybe they will teach you what they learned. [11] "Can papyrus grow tall on a dry land? Can reeds grow without water? [12] No, they will dry up before harvest. They will be too small to cut and use. [13] People who forget God are like that. Those who oppose him have no hope. [14] They have put their trust in something weak. It is like a spider's web. [15] When they lean against it, it will break. When they reach out for it, it will not hold them up. [16] Such people are like a vine that gets plenty of water and sunshine, and its branches spread throughout the garden. [17] Its roots spread among the rocks, searching for good soil. [18] But if you move it, it will die, and no one can tell it was ever there. [19] Everything might have been going well, but another vine will take its place. [20] God does not support evil people, and he does not abandon the innocent. [21] So perhaps you might laugh again. Maybe shouts of joy will come from your lips. [22] Maybe your enemies will be humiliated and the homes of the wicked destroyed."
