1BILDAD THE SHUHITE SPOKE: 2»How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind. 3»Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? 4»When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the power of their sin. 5»But if you will look to God and plead with the Almighty, 6if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your rightful place. 7»Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be. 8»Ask the former generations and find out what their fathers learned. 9»After all we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are a mere shadow. 10»Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding? 11»Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water? 12»While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass. 13»Such is the destiny of all who forget God. The hope of the godless will perish. 14»What he trusts in is fragile and what he relies on is like a spiders web. 15»He leans on his web, but it gives way! He clings to it, but it does not hold. 16»He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden. 17»It entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones. 18»When it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says: I never saw you. 19»Its life withers away and other plants grow from the soil. 20»Certainly God does not reject a blameless man or strengthen the hands of evildoers. 21»He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. 22»Your enemies will be clothed in shame. The tents of the wicked will be no more.«