[1] Then Bildad the Shuhite answered: [2] "How long will you say such things? Your words are no more than wind. [3] God does not twist justice; the Almighty does not make wrong what is right. [4] Your children sinned against God, and he punished them for their sins. [5] But you should ask God for help and pray to the Almighty for mercy. [6] If you are good and honest, he will stand up for you and bring you back where you belong. [7] Where you began will seem unimportant, because your future will be so successful. [8] "Ask old people; find out what their ancestors learned, [9] because we were only born yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are only a shadow. [10] Those people will teach you and tell you and speak about what they know. [11] Papyrus plants cannot grow where there is no swamp, and reeds cannot grow tall without water. [12] While they are still growing and not yet cut, they will dry up quicker than grass. [13] That is what will happen to those who forget God; the hope of the wicked will be gone. [14] What they hope in is easily broken; what they trust is like a spider's web. [15] They lean on the spider's web, but it breaks. They grab it, but it does not hold up. [16] They are like well-watered plants in the sunshine that spread their roots all through the garden. [17] They wrap their roots around a pile of rocks and look for a place among the stones. [18] But if a plant is torn from its place, then that place rejects it and says, 'I never saw you.' [19] Now joy has gone away; other plants grow up from the same dirt. [20] "Surely God does not reject the innocent or give strength to those who do evil. [21] God will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. [22] Your enemies will be covered with shame, and the tents of the wicked will be gone."
