^1. Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

^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 penalty of their sin.

^5. But if you will look to God and plead with the Almighty,

^6. if 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. for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a 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; so perishes the hope of the godless.

^14. What he trusts in is fragile [1] ; what he relies on is a spider's 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. But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, `I never saw you.'

^19. Surely its life withers away, and [2] from the soil other plants grow.

^20. "Surely 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, and the tents of the wicked will be no more."